Tempting Fate
by 9876grpc
Summary: My response to Bemily Q's Wolves Run at Night challenge. Harry gets a surprise visit from Draco one night looking for help. Unsure what to do Harry asks for Hermione's help. As they search for a way to protect Draco from the Dark Lord, Harry's eyes are opened to the reality that has been his life. What changes will he make? What consequences will there be as he tempts fate?
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Harry Potter.

Tempting Fate is my response to Bemily Q's Wolves Run at Night challenge. The story starts the summer after fifth year and the disaster at the Department of Mysteries.

_**Prologue**_

Draco was absolutely furious! His entire life had been turned upside down and it was all because of Potter! This whole bloody month was one fiasco after another and no matter how many times he tried to analyze his current situation objectively he always came to the same conclusion; he was royally screwed and it was all Potter's fault!

It all started four weeks ago when his father had been caught at the Ministry of Magic along with several other Death Eaters. It was certainly embarrassing having the Malfoy name across all the papers but they were Malfoy's for Merlin's sake, obviously his father would be able to get off easily enough. But after weeks of brutal interrogations in front of the Wizengamot, his father had not gotten off! They had actually had the gall to send his father, Lord Malfoy, to Azkaban! It was absolutely ridiculous!

And as if that wasn't enough, the Dark Lord, had taken up residence in his house! The man was a complete nutter and was surrounded by disgusting, low-life followers all the time!

But the real kicker came today when his Godfather told him that the Dark Lord wanted Draco to take the Dark Mark to prove that the Malfoy's were worthy of him! Snape had barely finished telling him that the ceremony would be in two weeks, closing the door behind him, when he began destroying everything in his room.

Now as he stood surrounded by chaos, he was determined to find Potter and make him pay!

…

_**Chapter 1**_

Harry was currently stumbling home after another night of drinking and debauchery. He was so furious with the world that he thought he might go completely mad and just join Voldermort. Shaking his head to clear that horrible thought he tripped and fell onto the sidewalk in front of his house, causing him to groan before he broke into laughter.

"Oh Harry, not again," sighed Tonks coming out from her hiding spot.

"Hiya Tonks," replied Harry turning onto his back, smiling up at her.

"Harry, what are you doing to yourself?" she asked as she held out her hand to help him up. However, Harry had other ideas and pulled her down on top of him and whispered, "I'm just trying to forget, Tonks. Don't you want to forget?"

Tonks closed her eyes and said, "I wish I could Harry, I really do, but all the alcohol in the world won't make it happen."

Harry snorted and said, "Well, it's worth a shot."

She started to get up and Harry groaned, causing her to look at him worriedly.

He closed his eyes and said, "Tonks, you should get off me now."

She huffed and said, "No need to be rude Harry, I was just…" but then she stopped talking when she felt his obvious arousal underneath her. "Oh."

"Yeah." replied Harry opening his eyes to stare at her.

She clumsily got up and said, "Sorry," as he groaned again.

He rolled onto his side and pushed himself up, finally standing in front of her. She was blushing and wouldn't meet his eyes, which made him laugh.

Angry, she looked at him and said, "What are you laughing at Potter?"

"You! Why are you blushing? Surely, you're not a virgin, Tonks." he teased.

"I'm not having this conversation with you mister," she snapped poking him in the chest, "You're just a kid!"

Anger quickly passed over Harry and he grabbed her roughly and said, "I'm just a kid, huh? I'm too young to have sex with but nobody seems to mind putting the fate of the wizarding world on my shoulders!"

Tonks eyes were wide in shock as Harry continued to rant.

"It's alright to make me live with muggles that hate me, make me fight off death eaters, make me the poster boy for good, make me watch the people I love die, but god forbid I have sex!" He yelled so loud his throat was raw and he stood there panting in anger before he shoved Tonks away from him and stormed towards his house.

"Harry!"

"Fuck off Tonks!" he yelled before he slammed the door behind him.

Tonks stood there in shock for what seemed like forever before she moved back to her hiding spot.

Draco watched the whole thing from across the street; completely surprised that Potter's life wasn't so perfect after all. He sighed, knowing he needed to make a decision soon. "Fuck it," he said under his breath before he cast a disillusionment charm on himself before moving quickly across the street into Harry's backyard. _It was now or never. _He got to the backdoor and a quick spell later he was inside the house. He shook his head in disgust, not much protection going on here. As soon as he finished the thought, he felt a wand in his throat, "Who are you?" growled Harry.

Draco raised his hands and said, "Potter, it's me."

"Malfoy?"

"Yes, now can you lower your wand?"

"No."

Draco huffed and said, "Will you let me cancel the disillusionment charm at least?"

"No."

Draco huffed again but then he felt the charm lifted and he looked at Harry surprised.

"Give me your wand."

"What? No."

"Give it to me, or I'm going to call the Order in here and you can explain what the fuck your doing here to them." threatened Harry.

"Fine! Take it!" snapped Draco handing it to him.

"Sit."

"Stop ordering me around Potter!" he huffed as he took a seat at the kitchen table.

Harry turned on the lights and stared at Draco menacingly.

Draco actually squirmed a bit under his gaze, he looked so different than the last time he saw him. _He looks powerful._ Draco spent some more time taking in Harry's appearance and couldn't help but notice his bare chest, surprised that he was anything but scrawny underneath. He was quite the site standing there with only a pair of trousers on, his chest rising and falling rapidly with each breath. Draco wasn't gay but he couldn't deny that Potter definitely looked sexy right now.

Harry cleared his throat, uncomfortable with Draco's scrutiny, and asked, "Why are you here?"

Draco started to reply, "I…I…" but then found he didn't really have an answer.

"Malfoy," growled Harry losing his patience.

Draco huffed annoyed and ran his hands through his hair in an uncharacteristic move, showing anxiety before he replied; "I don't know, alright! My life is a fucking mess and it's your entire fault! I spent the last week trying to track you down and now that I'm here I have no fucking idea what I thought was going to happen!"

Harry looked at him for a minute before he lowered his wand and started laughing.

"What the fuck are you laughing at?" snarled Draco.

"This whole fucking night is crazy and I'm still quite drunk."

"Well, I'm glad I fucking amuse you Potter," sulked Draco before he added a customary insult, "At least I can get laid."

"Fuck you Malfoy! I get plenty!" snapped Harry; embarrassed that Malfoy must have seen what happened with Tonks.

Suddenly the front door opened and closed causing both of them to tense and Harry to move so that he could see who it was. He calmed as he saw his cousin, "Hey Dudley."

"Hey. Were my parents up when you got home?"

"No, they were already asleep."

"Cool." replied Dudley as he walked past Harry into the kitchen, stopping when he saw Draco, who simply snubbed his nose at Dudley. Dudley turned to Harry and teased, "This your boyfriend?"

Harry rolled his eyes and said, "Fuck off Big D."

Dudley chuckled as he grabbed some food and left the kitchen.

"I'm fucking tired Malfoy, what do you want?" whined Harry, running his hands through his already tussled hair.

Draco laughed and said, "If you asked me that this morning I would have told you I wanted you dead."

Harry raised his eyebrows and asked, "And now?"

"I just want my life back! My father's in bloody Azkaban thanks to you Potter. And now the Dark Lord is punishing me for it by making me take the Dark Mark! As if that's not enough, the maniac is fucking living in my house, scaring the shit out of my mother."

Harry sighed, "What am I supposed to do about any of this, Malfoy?"

Draco looked somewhat unhinged, as he half yelled, "Nothing! I don't expect you to do anything! I don't even know why I'm here, but I just couldn't get it out of my head, I _**had**_ to see you."

The look on Harry's face was priceless. He clearly didn't know what to think of that statement and Draco started laughing, "Merlin, I sound like one of those Potter groupies!"

Harry chuckled and said, "I hate to break it to you Malfoy, but I'm not gay."

Malfoy groaned and banged his head on the table, "What was I thinking when I came here."

Harry snorted and moved to the fridge to take out cold cuts and make a sandwich. He put everything on the table and asked, "You hungry?"

Malfoy lifted his head up and looked at Harry like he was crazy. Harry just shrugged and proceeded to make two sandwiches before he sat down and started eating.

After several minutes of silence Harry said, "Look, I'm not sorry about your Dad, Malfoy, but isn't there somewhere else your Mum can go?"

"She won't go, she refuses to leave me," replied Draco, obviously distraught.

Harry nodded, figuring that's what Mums are supposed to do. "Why don't _you_ leave then, take her with you?"

Draco snorted, "And go where Potter? There's nowhere to hide that the Dark Lord wouldn't find us and then he'd kill us."

Harry stared at him for quite a while sizing Draco up before he said, "There's a few places he wouldn't be able to find you."

The silence that followed was thick with tension and was finally broken by Draco laughing. Once he started he couldn't stop, which actually made Harry smile somewhat. After a few minutes he said, "I'm serious Malfoy, Dumbledore could…"

"No! Absolutely not! That old codgers' not going to manipulate me like he does my Godfather! You may not mind but I answer to no one. I'm not trading one for another, Potter."

Harry was taken aback by Draco's rant, never considering that Dumbledore manipulated anyone. He frowned thinking back to their last conversation after Sirius died... _Neither can live while the other survives._

Harry was suddenly broken out of his thoughts by the chair scraping as Draco got up, "Where are you going?"

Draco shook his head and replied somewhat dejectedly, "Home. I have no idea why I came here, it was stupid."

Harry stood and grabbed Draco's arm as he turned to leave, "Malfoy?"

"What?" snapped Draco, looking at where Harry's hand was on his arm?

Harry looked him straight in the eye and asked seriously, "Do you want to take the Mark?"

Draco sighed and said, "I don't have a choice."

"That's not an answer."

Draco scrunched up his face and yelled, "No, alright, I don't want to! Happy now?"

Harry smiled and said, "Yeah, I am. Stay here, Malfoy."

Draco frowned in confusion.

"Stay here with me, we'll figure something out."

"I'm not going to be Dumbledore's pawn, Potter!" snapped Draco wrenching his arm away from Harry.

Harry responded instantly, surprising even himself, "No, I won't let that happen. I'll figure something out. You can stay here with me, until we figure it out. You'll be safe here."

"I don't trust Dumbledore."

"Then trust me."

Harry was so sincere, so vehement, that Draco couldn't help but do just that and he slowly asked, "You're going to protect me?"

"I ... Yes. I'll do my best."

"What about my Mother?"

Harry sighed and said, "I have no idea right now…but give me some time."

"If I do this, if _we _do this, there won't be much time to get her out. I can only be away so long before they know I've run."

"How much time?"

"Two, maybe three days."

Harry ran his hands through his hair and said, "I'm going to need help."

"Not…"

"Not Dumbledore. Hermione."

"Granger?"

"Hermione," snapped Harry glaring at Draco before he started rummaging around the kitchen looking for something, huffing when he didn't find it. He moved to the hallway and opened the cupboard door and started rifling through his trunk, muttering under his breath, "where is it?"

"Potter, what are you looking for?"

Harry's response was mumbled and Draco rolled his eyes.

"Found it!" shouted Harry quickly coming back into the kitchen with a little black book in his hands.

Draco simply raised his eyebrows at him and watched as Harry picked up something from the wall and started pressing buttons on it.

"Shit, what time is it?" Harry asked holding something to his ear.

Draco shrugged and said, "I don't know, it's probably midnight."

"Fuck," cursed Harry but just as he was about to hang up someone picked up the other line.

"Hullo?"

"Hermione?"

"What time is it?"

Harry cursed silently and said, "I'm sorry Ma'am, I didn't realize it was so late, I'll call back in the morning."

"It's alright, let me go see if Hermione's awake."

"Thank you Ma'am."

Harry cringed as he heard Hermione's Mum go into her room and tell her she had a phone call.

"Hello?" said Hermione groggily

"Hermione, I'm so sorry, I didn't realize it was this late."

"Harry?"

"Yeah."

Harry was shocked when he heard Hermione huff, "Mum, I've got it, can you go now?"

"Harry, what's wrong?" panicked Hermione.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize it was so late."

"Stop apologizing, Harry, and tell me what's wrong," snapped Hermione annoyed.

Harry bit his lip, looked at Draco and then replied, "It's kind of hard to explain over the phone. Can you come here?"

"Now?" she shrieked.

"Umm, well, no I guess you could wait until the morning," replied Harry trying to be reasonable. It was the middle of the night after all…

Hermione sighed and started muttering under her breath, then asked, "How do you call for the Knight bus again?"

Harry smiled widely and said, "You just hold out your wand and think about it coming to get you."

"Fine, I'll see you in a bit."

"Thank you Hermione!"

"Yeah, yeah. I hope you have an extra bed at your house," she mumbled and then the line went dead. Harry stared at it in confusion before hanging up.

"Well?" asked Draco.

"She's coming," replied Harry, still somewhat unsure what Hermione was talking about.

"Then why do you look so confused?"

"She said something about having an extra bed?"

"Do you?"

"What?"

"Do you have an extra bed, Potter?" replied Draco rolling his eyes. When Harry just stared at him, he huffed, "You don't expect me to sleep on the floor do you?"

Harry looked surprised and Draco snorted, "You didn't even think about any of this did you?"

Harry shook his head and Draco said, "Well, then, you can sleep on the floor and I'll take your bed."

"Fuck you," replied Harry but there was no malice behind it.

They waited what seemed like forever but in reality was only 45 minutes when they heard the unmistakable sound of the Knight Bus. Harry jumped up and went to the front door to open it and go get Hermione. He heard Draco shout, "Whipped!"

He ran out and took Hermione's bag from her and thanked Stan, wondering why they were both looking at him funny. After the Knight bus left Harry began walking her towards the house when he heard, "Hermione?"

Hermione turned around and was surprised to see Tonks. She heard Harry curse under his breath then felt him move very close to her, wrapping his arm around her waist.

"Hi Tonks," replied Hermione, uneasy with the sudden change in Harry.

"What are you doing here, Hermione, it's the middle of the night?" asked Tonks none too nicely.

Before Hermione could reply Harry did, "That is none of your business, Tonks. You had your chance earlier and if I remember correctly you weren't interested."

Hermione turned her head to the side to see Harry's face, surprised by what he said. She was pretty sure she was standing there with her mouth wide open and when she turned back to look at Tonks, she saw she was also in shock.

Harry laughed cruelly before he tugged Hermione, his arm still around her waist and pulled her into the house with him.

Once the door was closed Hermione moved away from Harry and stared at him like she'd never seen him before. She took a minute to observe him…his hair was even messier than usual; he had no shirt on, no shoes or socks on, only a pair of low riding trousers on. She could have sworn she smelled alcohol on him too. She narrowed her eyes and asked, "What the hell was that?"

Harry smiled meekly and said, "Sorry, I forgot she was out there and I didn't want her to know anything."

Hermione was livid, practically shrieking, she was so loud, "So you implied I was here for… for…"

Harry backed away from her and raised his hands in surrender, "I'm sorry! It was the only thing I could think of!"

Hermione looked at him like he was insane and asked, "Are you drunk?"

Harry looked away and she stomped her foot and said, "Harry!"

"I'm sorry!" replied Harry automatically.

"Oh this is fantastic. My protector is scared of a know it all witch who wouldn't know how to let loose and have fun even if she was imperio'd." sneered Draco.

Hermione whipped her wand out so fast and pointed it at Draco that Harry was surprised she didn't give herself whiplash. He quickly put his hand on her wand arm and said, "Hermione, it's OK."

"Harry, Draco Malfoy is in your living room, and you think this is OK?" asked Hermione appalled.

"Yes, its why I called you here," said Harry patiently trying to lower her wand arm.

When she still didn't oblige Harry added, "I have his wand Hermione, he's not going to do anything."

Sighing loudly, she lowered her wand hoping that she wouldn't regret it, "Explain."


	2. Chapter 2

I do not own Harry Potter

An uncomfortable silence had descended on the room. Harry and Draco were glaring at each other as Hermione impatiently waited for an answer.

Harry crossed his arms when Hermione started tapping her foot and snarled, "Malfoy, if you want my help I need hers."

Draco made a noise of annoyance before he finally huffed and said, "Fine! If you must know _**Granger**_," he stopped here, as if saying her name would make him vomit, he swallowed hard then continued, "In a moment of complete stupidity, I sought _**Potter**_ out."

The look on Draco's face after saying this made Hermione roll her eyes, "And?"

"And what?" snarled Draco coming closer to her.

"_**Why are you here Malfoy**_?" seethed Hermione moving closer to him.

Harry watched them standoff, both glaring at each other inches apart. He had seen these two go head to head many times but now he could tell Malfoy was holding back. Normally he would have insulted Hermione by now and Harry realized something had changed in the Slytherin. In true Harry fashion, he decided to spare Malfoy the embarrassment and said, "He asked for my help Hermione. Voldemort is going to make him take the Mark and he doesn't want to."

Draco flinched at the name of the Dark Lord and turned to Harry in surprise, while Hermione's eyes widened as she processed what Harry just said. Draco moved away from her and sat down in the living room chair.

"But… he's just a kid?" Hermione said exasperatedly.

Draco was on his feet instantly and stormed over to Hermione angrily. Harry moved to stand in front of her just as fast and pushed against Draco's chest to keep him back. Even Harry was a little annoyed, _what was it with witches and this word?_

"Hermione, he's no more a kid than I am," snapped Harry as he turned to her, eyes blazing.

She shook her head and said, "No, that's not what I meant. I know you're not a kid, Harry, I mean even if I thought that I would just have to look at you to see that you're obviously not a child." Hermione blushed profusely when she realized what she just said. Shaking her head again she turned back to Draco and said, "I didn't mean it like that, Malfoy. I just meant that Voldemort has grown wizards, that don't have a trace on their wand and don't spend a the whole year at school…it just doesn't make any sense."

"You're right, I never really thought about it that way. Did they tell you why they wanted you to take the Mark?" asked Harry.

Draco jerked his head to the side and snorted, "To prove the Malfoy's were worthy. It's a punishment for what happened with my father at the Department of Mysteries."

Hermione noticed that Harry instantly started rubbing the back of his neck before he turned and left the room. Draco shot her a confused look but Harry was back in a minute with a bottle of vodka.

"Harry…" said Hermione sympathetically, but all that did was set Harry's anguished gaze on her. He simply held his hand out to stop her lecture and started chugging straight from the bottle.

Draco decided to get back on track with the conversation, ignoring what was obviously going on with Harry. "Look, I need to get my mother out of that house, away from Him, and I need to do it quickly. Potter here insisted you would be able to help, so Granger, any brilliant ideas?"

Hermione looked at Draco incredulously, "Let me get this straight. Not only do you want us to help you, but also you expect us to rescue your mother? Why can't she just leave and go somewhere else? Or better yet why can't she help you and then you can both go somewhere else!"

"Hermione," chided Harry, surprised by her anger.

"What? I don't give a damn about Malfoy Harry! I care about you! And you're obviously in need of a little help yourself right now. Why should I waste my time on Malfoy? Do you think he would do the same for us if the roles were reversed?"

Harry frowned, knowing she was right, but still he gave his word…

"Why don't we just tell Professor Dumbledore and he can help Malfoy?"

"No," snapped Harry, "If you don't want to help then fine, Hermione, but I gave Malfoy," Harry stopped and forced out his next words painfully, "_**Draco**_ my word. End of story."

Draco looked at Harry curiously while Hermione recovered from her shock. "So you're going to help him even after all the horrible things he's done to us?"

"Yes."

Hermione closed her eyes and sighed in frustration. She should have known Harry would do this. He was too good for his own sake. "Fine. If you insist on helping him, then I'll help you. But I'm only doing this because of you, Harry."

Harry grinned and moved closer to her to pull her into a hug. Hermione blushed prettily as she wrapped her hands around his naked back. She couldn't help but notice Harry seemed so much taller than the last time she hugged him and pulled back to tell him, "I think you've gotten taller since I last saw you."

He flashed her a mischievous grin before stepping away and facing Draco, "Alright, now that it's settled that we're going to help you, I would really like to get some sleep."

"Yes, it is quite late," said Hermione looking at the clock that indicated it was 3:15 in the morning.

"We're going to have to all bunk in my room. Otherwise my …_**family…**_will have a fit," said Harry as he moved to the stairs with Hermione's bag over his shoulder.

Hermione and an uncomfortable Draco followed him to his room. Once the door was closed behind him Draco looked around in shock. "I thought you were supposed to be spoiled Potter?"

Harry chuckled darkly and replied, "This is spoiled compared to living in a cupboard under the stairs."

Draco and Hermione both whipped their heads to look at Harry, completely shocked by that statement, but he only shrugged and started tidying his room up.

Deciding now was not the time, Hermione asked, "Harry, where do they keep the linens?"

"In the hall closet next to the bathroom," replied Harry and Hermione went to go get them. She came back and shooed Harry out of the way so she could set up a makeshift bed on the floor. Once she was done, she turned to them and said, "That will have to do for tonight. We can figure out something better tomorrow. Malfoy, you get the floor."

"What? I most certainly will not sleep on the floor!" huffed Draco.

"Yes you will! I'm not sleeping on the floor nor am I sharing the bed with you!"

Draco scrunched up his face in disgust at that thought then turned his back on her, mumbling angrily under his breath. He whipped off his shirt and started unbuttoning his pants when Hermione shrieked, "Malfoy!"

He turned around his pants open in the front and his chest completely naked, "What Granger? You don't expect me to sleep in my clothes do you?"

Harry didn't particularly like the way Hermione's eyes were drawn to Draco's abdomen so he simply glared at Draco before turning Hermione around and pulling back the covers for her and said, "Come on Hermione, you need to get some sleep."

She smiled at him and toed her shoes off before looking at him tentatively biting her lip.

"What is it?" he asked smiling at her.

"Can you just turn around for a minute so I can take my jumper off?"

Harry's eyes widened but he nodded and turned his back to her so she could do just that. He heard her get into the bed and turned around to see her with the covers up to her neck. He felt Draco move behind him and turned to see him bundle up in the blankets on the floor. There wasn't much room left for him to move around so he just sat on the edge of the bed. After a few minutes Hermione asked, "Harry aren't you going to go to sleep?"

"No, I'll stay up and keep an eye on things."

"Harry, you need to get some rest too. Are you worried about Malfoy doing something?"

"I can hear you, you know!"

Harry chuckled and said, "It is strange to have him here, isn't it?"

Hermione laughed and said, "I don't think there's anything normal about tonight, that's for sure."

Draco huffed and sat up, turning around to face them, "Look, if I promise I won't try and kill you both in your sleep will you shut up?"

They both seemed to consider his words and he rolled his eyes and said, "I was just joking but fine if it makes you happy… I swear that I will not try and kill Harry Potter or Hermione Granger in their sleep, so mote it be."

There was a flash of light around Malfoy and Harry and Hermione both looked at him incredulously. "How… Why… How did you do that? Harry, I thought you had his wand!"

"I do…"

"Malfoy rolled his eyes and said, "It's called Magic for a reason you imbeciles."

"But you don't have a wand!" replied Hermione, sitting straight up in bed now. Draco couldn't help but check her out. She had a fitted pink camisole on that showed her surprisingly ample breasts. Harry turned to see what had Malfoy looking quite like that and practically stopped breathing from shock.

"Hermione," said Harry huskily.

She turned to look at him with a question in her eyes, _why did he sound like that? _She looked back at Draco to see him eying her much the same way, which made her scoot further back on the bed.

Harry's inner Gryffindor came out and he moved to shield Hermione from Draco's view as he cleared his throat and got back to whatever it was they were talking about… "Right. Well, now that we know Malfoy isn't going to try and kill us, I guess I could rest for a bit."

Draco plopped back down and turned his back to them again, while Harry toed his shoes off and slid his jeans off. He turned back to the bed, both wands in his hand and asked, "Are you sure you don't mind sharing with me Hermione? I could sleep on the floor too."

"Nonsense Harry, it's your bed and you're my best friend. Just get in so I can get some sleep."

"Yes Ma'am," teased Harry as he crawled into bed, sliding the hand that was holding the wands under his pillow. It was a small bed so it was impossible not to touch Hermione. He felt her turn away from him and snuggle up, jumping when her bum accidently bumped his.

"Sorry," whispered Hermione mortified.

"It's fine," replied Harry, trying to remind himself that this was his best friend, and that he couldn't do things that he would normally do in bed with a girl.

"Good night, Harry."

"Night Hermione," he whispered back.

"Will you two lovebirds shut up!" snapped Draco.


	3. Chapter 3

I do not own Harry Potter.

Author's Note: You're going to see Hermione's inner Slytherin come out! I hope you enjoy

Hermione woke up with horrible cramps and mentally cursed herself for not remembering she was due for her period. She was in such a rush to get here last night she was almost positive she forgot to pack what she would most certainly need. She slowly extracted herself from Harry's bed, careful not to disturb him, grabbed her bag and slowly tiptoed out of the room, trying not to step on Malfoy. She shut the door and let out a sigh of relief that she didn't wake either of them. Now she just needed to deal with her current problem.

A quick shower and a change of clothes later, Hermione was feeling much better but she was going to need to find a pharmacy to get the supplies she forgot to pack. She could also really use some ibuprofen for the cramps. She put her bag outside Harry's door and headed downstairs to see if Harry's Aunt was up. She had always wanted to talk to her but she had to admit she never imagined having to ask her for help with her monthly. She pinched the bridge of her nose before finally gathering her courage and entering the kitchen. Thankfully only Harry's Aunt was awake; after all it was only six in the morning…

"Good Morning Mrs. Dursley," said Hermione as cheerfully as she could while wanting to double over in pain.

Mrs. Dursley jumped and turned to see who was in her kitchen. It was obvious she had no idea who Hermione was so she continued, "I'm sorry to scare you, I'm Hermione Granger," holding her hand out to Mrs. Dursley.

Mrs. Dursley smiled and shook her hand tentatively. "I'm sorry, dear, I didn't realize there were guests in the house."

Hermione shook her head and said, "No, it's my fault. I should have made more noise coming down the stairs so I didn't scare you. You have a lovely house by the way."

Hermione had heard enough about this woman to know exactly the kind of person she was. Flattery and flaunting of wealth were going to be what she needed to get her way. _Plus I bet she would love to be seen as the perfect hostess_…

"Thank you dear. I'm sorry but I really have no idea who you are…"

Hermione put her best acting skills on and pretended to be a normal flighty teenage girl, "Oh excuse me for being so forgetful! My parents had an emergency at work, you see they're doctors, and I asked Harry if my brother and I could stay with you until tomorrow. It was so late that he didn't want to wake you to ask. I really hope it's all right with you. My parents said they're going to pick us all up tomorrow, if that's OK with you. You see we have a vacation planned and they were so thankful to Harry for letting us stay here, that they want to take him along with us. We'll be gone for a month, that is if you'll allow him to come with us?"

Mrs. Dursley just stared at Hermione, trying to process everything she just said. Hermione bit her lip and twisted her hair with her fingers pretending to be nervous. She looked out the kitchen window and saw the garden and remembered Harry grumbling about having to do gardening over the summer. "What a beautiful garden you have Mrs. Dursley! How on earth do you get your roses to grow like that?"

Mrs. Dursley smiled proudly and said, "Why thank you dear. The garden is a passion of mine. It takes a lot of work but it's worth it."

Hermione internally shouted, _A lot of Harry's work!, _but simply smiled and replied, "I'm sure my mother would love to get your secret. Perhaps you can show it off to her when she picks us up tomorrow?"

"It would be my pleasure, dear. Now, since you're here with us for another day, is there anything you need? I trust my nephew let you have his bed last night?"

"Yes, of course, he was the perfect gentleman," replied Hermione before continuing, "I actually am quite embarrassed to even have to ask you this, but you see I left my house in such a rush last night that I didn't have time to pack appropriately. And I've…"

"It's alright dear, what do you need?"

"You see I've gotten my monthly and I don't have anything with me. I took a shower this morning and luckily found something in my pocketbook for this morning but I'll need to find a pharmacy."

"Oh goodness, you poor thing. No wonder you look so pale! Here, sit down," Mrs. Dursley proceeded to practically force Hermione in a chair before she turned to get some juice for her. "I was fortunate enough to not really have any problems but my sister used to have the worst time of it every month and I would always take care of her. Do you want some Tylenol or Advil? I'm afraid I don't have anything else, but I will get whatever you need at the pharmacy right after Vernon leaves for work."

"Oh, that's not necessary Mrs. Dursley, I'm happy to walk to the pharmacy if you'll just point me in the right direction." replied Hermione kindly.

"Nonsense dear. I won't hear of it. You'll give me a list and I'll get what you need. Now, can I get you something? Are you in pain?"

"Yes, I am in a bit of pain, if it's not too much trouble. And thank you, I really do appreciate your kindness. My mother will be so relieved when I tell her you're taking care of me; she worries about me so much. I guess I'm like your sister because I tend to have a really hard time of it every month too."

"I always felt so bad for Lily, she was just miserable for days. I worried about her when she was away at school. I hope someone took care of her…" Mrs. Dursley trailed off and Hermione couldn't help but be surprised by how genuine she seemed.

"Did anything work for her, your sister? You see I've tried everything and my Mum even took me to several different doctors but they wanted to…"

"What did they want to do dear?"

Hermione tried her hardest to look horrified before she replied; "They wanted to put me on birth control! And my parents… we're very religious, we go to church every Sunday. You're supposed to wait until you're married to have sex! That's what we believe, so you can see that we weren't willing to try that. It just seemed wrong. Don't you think?"

"Yes, of course! That's what they told us to try for Lily and my parents refused! Absolutely not, they said. We're religious as well, so I completely understand, dear. There's no shame in believing in the Lord." Mrs. Dursley patted Hermione's hand motherly then said, "I'm going to make you some breakfast so that the medicine doesn't make you sick. Now, what would you like?"

An hour and a half later, after a very uncomfortable breakfast with Mr. Dursley, and after sending some letters off with Hedwig, Hermione was settled on the couch with a blanket and a pillow. Mrs. Dursley insisted she rest while she ran to the pharmacy to get everything Hermione needed.

"I can't thank you enough Mrs. Dursley, really," said Hermione as she settled in with a book in her hands. "Would you mind terribly if I called my Mum? I just want to let her know how helpful you've been. And she'll be so relieved to hear that you don't mind my brother and I staying here."

"Of course dear, you don't even need to ask," tutted Mrs. Dursley bringing the cordless phone straight to Hermione.

"Thank you so much, Harry is so lucky to have such a wonderful Aunt," gushed Hermione before she started dialing her Mum's work number.

"Hello Stephanie, this is Hermione, is Dr. Granger available? My mother, if she's available?" Hermione smiled at Mrs. Dursley as she grabbed her coat.

"Hi Mum. I just wanted to call and let you know that Mrs. Dursley is taking such good care of me. And she doesn't mind at all that we had to stay over."

Mrs. Dursley smiled and waved as she shut the door behind her, leaving Hermione alone.

"Sorry, Mum, she just left. I can talk now," sighed Hermione.

"Hermione, what in goodness is going on?"

"I'm sorry Mum. I know you must have been so worried. I told you Harry had never called before and asked for help so I knew it must have been something for him to do that. I got here last night to find one of our classmates had shown up at Harry's door asking for help. Harry didn't know what to do because we're not really friendly with this boy but Harry has such a big heart he decided to help him anyway. Problem is it's not just our classmate that needs help, it's his mum too."

"Oh Hermione, that's terrible."

"I know. So we're trying to figure something out today but I could really use your help because I sort of had to lie to Mrs. Dursley. You remember how I told you Harry's family isn't very nice to him?"

"Yes, is it worse than you thought? Do you need me to come get you now?"

"No, it's not that. She's like those people at the country club that you hate so much… she's all about the appearance of things, and wealth. I just played on that. I told her you're both doctors, which you are but I told her you both had an emergency at work and asked if I could stay here until tomorrow."

"Hermione…"

"I know Mum, but if I didn't say that she would have been horrible to me and I really needed her help because I got my period this morning and I forgot to pack all my stuff!"

"Oh sweetheart, are you sure you don't want me to just come get you? I know how horrible you usually feel."

"No Mum, I'll be ok. Mrs. Dursley just went to go get me everything at the pharmacy. But look, I don't have a lot of time and we need to figure this out. I came up with a plan but I need you and Dad to agree to it."

"Oh Hermione, do I even want to know?"

"Mum! It's not like I ask for things like this all the time!"

"Alright, what is it?"

Hermione spent the next 15 minutes going over her plan and getting her mother to agree plus she said she would to talk her Dad into it as well. Her mum promised to come pick them all up tomorrow night and they could figure out the details after that. Sighing in relief, Hermione put her head down and pulled the blanket up. She just wanted to close her eyes for a minute…

Harry woke up feeling rested…too rested. He opened his eyes wide and reached for his glasses, looking at the clock, "Shit!" It was 12:45 in the afternoon! His aunt was going to be furious with him. Wait. _Why didn't she wake him up? Why didn't his uncle wake him up?_ He looked down surprised to see Malfoy sleeping on the floor and suddenly remembered what happened last night. He looked to the side but Hermione wasn't here. _Where was she?_

"Malfoy!"

Draco groaned and put the pillow over his head.

"Malfoy!"

"What!"

"Where's Hermione?"

Draco whipped the pillow off his head and glared at Harry, "How the fuck should I know!"

"Prick!"

"It's not my fault you can't keep track of your girlfriend!"

"She's not my girlfriend, Malfoy! And Fuck you!"

Harry tried to get out of bed but managed to stub his toe on his desk, and then he stepped on Draco's leg and practically fell face first into the door. He whipped it open giving Malfoy the finger for laughing at him. He made his way into the bathroom, washed up quickly and went back into his room to get dressed. He purposely kicked Draco and said, "Get up, get dressed, we need to find Hermione."

Draco groaned but got up and made his way to the bathroom, cursing under his breath the whole time. When he came back to the bedroom, Harry was leaving and practically ordered him, "Meet me downstairs."

Draco simply gave him the finger and slammed the door shut in his face.

"Prick." Harry said under his breath. _Why the fuck did he agree to help this bastard? __**Harry shook his head and practically ran down the stairs, he needed to find Hermione.**__ God only knows what his Aunt and Uncle had said to her this morning. _Just as he was pushing the kitchen door open he stopped and turned back, walking slowly to the living room entryway. Hermione was sound asleep on the couch, covered in blankets with a tray of tea next to her. _What the… _He moved forward so he was standing over her and just as he was going to wake her he heard Draco come down the stairs behind him. He turned and saw Draco roll his eyes, "Found your girlfriend have you?"

"Shh! Don't wake her!" said Harry's Aunt in a yell whisper.

Harry looked at her like she was insane and she pointed to the kitchen making both boys leave the living room.

"Honestly, the poor girl needs her rest!"

Harry was speechless. _Who was this woman and what did she do to his horrible Aunt? _

Draco watched the woman warily, unsure who she was and why she was so protective of Granger.

She gave Harry a look before she turned her gaze on Draco and smiled at him, "Hello dear, how are you?"

Draco shot Harry a confused look before he replied, "I'm fine."

"You're sister told me you're parents were called into an emergency at work. She spoke with your Mum this morning. They're going to pick the three of you up tomorrow. Now, tell me, what can I get you to eat. You must be famished."

Draco and Harry both shared a look of confusion before Mrs. Dursley shooed Draco into a chair at the table. "How about a sandwich dear?"

"Um, sure."

Harry sat down at the table across from Draco and tentatively asked, "Aunt Petunia, is Hermione not feeling well?"

She replied as she made Draco's sandwich, "No, the poor thing, woke up in pain this morning and didn't have anything she needed with her. I ran to the pharmacy for her after breakfast and she was sound asleep on the couch when I got back. I didn't want to wake her but she's due for her next dose of medicine soon, so I'm going to have to."

Harry was torn between worry over Hermione and confusion over why his Aunt was being so nice to her…and Malfoy too. She seemed to think Malfoy was her brother…odd. He needed to talk to Hermione but he had a feeling his aunt wasn't going to let him near her if she was in her 'fretting mother' mode. He watched as she placed the sandwich in front of Draco then turned to open a cabinet, grabbed a bottle of medicine and left the kitchen.

Harry turned to Draco, completely confused to see him happily eating. "What the fuck is going on?"

"No idea. Good sandwich though," replied Draco.

Harry rolled his eyes at him before getting up and following his aunt to see if Hermione was awake. He stopped in the doorway to watch… His aunt was bent down over Hermione handing her medicine, before holding out the cup of tea for her to take. She waited for Hermione to take her medicine before nodding and turning to leave. When she saw Harry she said, "She needs to stay on that couch, understand?"

Harry nodded, worried about his friend. He watched her leave then looked back at Hermione. She rolled her eyes and sat up, making room for Harry to sit at the end.

"What… Hermione… Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Harry." she replied smiling. When he simply looked at her confused she blushed and said, "Really, I just wasn't feeling well this morning and your aunt seems to feel bad for me."

"What's wrong? Are you sick? Do you need me to call your parents? Do you need to go to the doctor?"

Hermione reached out and put her hand on Harry's and said, "No, Harry, thank you. I promise, I'm fine. I just need to take some pain meds every few hours."

"What! Hermione, that's not fine! I'm calling your Mum," said Harry reaching for the phone that was still on the table next to Hermione.

"No, Harry, oh my god, this is so embarrassing." blushed Hermione.

When he simply looked at her still confused she squirmed and said, "It's just my monthly, Harry. Really, I'm fine."

"Your monthly?"

Oh god. He didn't know what she was talking about. Someone kill her now. This was so embarrassing, "My period."

"Oh! Oh. Shit, Hermione, I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to pry. I'm so sorry. Do you need anything? Do you want me to leave you alone? Yes, I'll just go and let you rest," Harry was beet red and started to get up to leave when Hermione grabbed his hand and said, " Harry! Honestly, will you stop! It's not like I've never had it before! Now, sit down so I can talk to you!"

Harry looked somewhat terrified of her and they sat in an awkward silence for a bit before he finally asked, "How did you get my aunt to be nice to you?"

Hermione laughed and said, "It's a long story and I promise to tell you when we're at my house. Now, speaking of which, I need to fill you and Malfoy in on the plan. Where is he?"

"In the kitchen, eating. My aunt insisted on feeding him. Funny, she seems to be under the impression that he's your brother"

"Yes, that's my doing. I had to think fast this morning and it fit with the story I told her."

Harry smirked at her in response, wondering what on earth she had told his aunt.

"Mrs. Dursley," called Hermione, surprising Harry.

"Yes, dear?"

"Would you mind terribly, if I sat outside in your beautiful garden? I think the warm sun might make me feel better. Harry and my brother would be happy to keep me company, wouldn't you Harry?"

"Um, sure?" replied Harry confused.

"Of course dear, I think the sun will do you some good. You're so pale. Do you need me to bring you anything?"

"No, thank you Mrs. Dursley. You've been so wonderful."

"Nonsense, dear. Just yell if you need anything." replied Mrs. Dursley heading up the stairs.

Hermione smirked and pulled Harry with her out of the living room and into the kitchen. "Malfoy, we're going outside, let's go," she barked as she opened the door to the back yard with Harry and Draco following in tow.

Author's note: So any guesses on what Hermione's plan is?


	4. Chapter 4

I do not own Harry Potter.

Hermione plopped down in a nice chaise, while Harry and Draco sat in chair across from her.

"All right Granger, spill," demanded Draco.

"Don't talk to her like that," snapped Harry.

Draco rolled his eyes in response and continued to stare at Hermione.

"Before I tell you my plan, we need to agree on something," at this she turned to Harry and asked, "Harry, do you trust Professor Lupin?"

"The werewolf?" asked Draco incredulously?

Harry growled until Hermione moved to grab his hand, focusing his attention back on her. "Harry?"

"Yes," replied Harry hesitantly.

"Do you trust him enough to help us without telling Dumbledore?"

"No!" snapped Draco standing up.

"Sit down," ordered Harry before he turned back to Hermione. "I'm not sure. I want to say yes, but I…I was much closer with …"

"I know Harry," said Hermione gently, patting his knee. "I think we should trust him. I think we need an adult that can help us, that can look out for us even if it's just diverting Dumbledore's attention away from us."

When Harry just stared off into the distance Hermione added, "Plus I think it would be good for both of you. I'm sure he's hurting just as badly Harry. He's lost everyone too."

Harry flew up from his seat, completely overwhelmed with the desire to get up and run. Run until he couldn't run anymore. Instead he took a deep pained breath, rubbed his neck and then ran his hands through his hair. When he finally calmed down enough to speak his voice cracked with emotion, "I know he has."

Hermione could see how close to the edge Harry was and she stood and brought him into a fierce hug, "Oh, Harry," she sighed as he buried his head in her neck and held on to her tightly.

After a few minutes Draco couldn't take it anymore and sneered, "If you two Hufflepuffs are done, can we get back to Granger telling us what the plan is?"

Harry moved too quickly for Hermione to stop him as he shoved Draco back in his chair shaking in fury, "Don't push me Malfoy!" snarled Harry.

Draco's eyes widened as he gripped the arms of the chair so tight his knuckles turned white. Unable to speak, he swallowed hard and nodded curtly in response.

It wasn't until Harry started to move away that he noticed he had practically straddled Draco in his haste. He blushed somewhat but cleared his throat and said, "Right. So we're trusting Remus."

Hermione decided to ignore the tension between the boys and continued on, "Great. Now there's two things we're going to need access to immediately are books and money."

"What?"

"Come again?"

Hermione huffed, "Boys!" under her breath before she replied, "Look, we need to hide Malfoy, and we can't very well hide him at your house all summer Harry, people are bound to notice. Never mind I wouldn't trust you not to kill each other, plus that doesn't address what we're going to do with Mrs. Malfoy."

They both still looked confused but Harry was brave enough to ask, "And?"

"Both of you, plus Mrs. Malfoy and Professor Lupin will be accompanying my parents and I on our vacation."

Draco was out of his seat in a flash violating Hermione's personal space and yelled, "Are you barking Granger? Have you met my mother? You want us to spend time with _**Muggles**_?"

Harry shoved Draco away from Hermione and yelled, "Don't you fucking dare yell at her! She's trying to help you, you fucking ungrateful bastard!"

Hermione took a second to recover before she hesitantly said, "It's the perfect place to hide you and your mother. No one would ever think to look in the Muggle world for you."

Draco outwardly scowled but inside he knew she was right. And he hated it.

"Hermione, you're right, as always, but Dumbledore is never going to let me leave here," replied Harry despondently.

"That's where Professor Lupin comes in Harry. As much as I hate to admit it no one ever disagrees with Professor Dumbledore, they just do what he wants. Professor Lupin is a powerful wizard in his own right, but add in the fact that he's a werewolf and I'm sure he can be downright scary. If we can get him to put all that power and energy into protecting you, and demanding to have time alone with you, I think it will work, especially now after Sirius…"

Harry turned away and began pacing, shoving his hands in his pockets.

Draco watched him unsure what exactly was wrong. He could tell yesterday something was off, but the more time he spent with him the more he noticed it. "Potter?"

"What," barked Harry?

"I can't even believe I'm going to say this but I think Granger is right," said Draco completely ashen.

Harry snorted before he bent over, hands on his knees and started to laugh.

Hermione smiled, loving the sound of his laugh but the longer it went on the more it became anguished until Hermione couldn't help but feel Harry was going to crack. As she moved towards him he fell to his knees and started punching the ground in fury, tears running down his face.

Hermione went to stop him but was suddenly moved out of the way by Draco who whispered, "Don't," before he pulled Harry up off the ground. Harry didn't even look at who it was; he just started throwing punches, screaming in rage the whole time. Draco took the punches, shoving Harry and throwing his own several times until Harry ran out of steam and doubled over exhausted.

"Harry!" whimpered Hermione, coming to his side to wrap him in a hug. Harry buried his head in her hair and sobbed, gut wrenching sobs that even managed to break Draco's heart. Hermione rubbed his back and repeated, "It's alright," over and over again until Harry finally calmed down.

Draco wasn't sure why but he wanted to give Harry some privacy so he said, "I'm going to wash up," and walked back to the house quickly.

After a few more minutes Harry pulled back just enough so that he could look at Hermione, "I'm so sorry, Hermione."

"Don't be silly Harry, you don't have to apologize to me. I'm your best friend."

"But I could have hurt you!"

"You didn't."

"But I could have! I didn't even look to see who grabbed me, I just lost it!"

"But you didn't hurt me."

"Only because of Malfoy…"

"Harry, I'm fine, I promise."

Harry scrutinized her to make sure she was fine before he reluctantly nodded and said again, "I'm sorry." Before he realized what he was doing he took his right hand and held her face, lightly rubbing her cheek with his thumb. He started to lean in, suddenly overcome with a desire to kiss her, he stopped just centimeters from her lips and looked up to meet her eyes. They were wide in surprise but Harry noticed she licked her lips. Unable to stop himself he closed what little distance there was left between them and gently kissed her. It was just a soft touch of lips, over before it even started, "Thank you," he whispered before he moved back and stood up, offering his hand to her.

Hermione shook her head to clear the fog of confusion and grabbed his hand to help get up. Deciding to ignore what just happened for now she cleared her throat and said, "You know you really should apologize to Malfoy."

Harry rolled his eyes in response.

"Harry!" chided Hermione.

"I know, I know," huffed Harry examining his hands, taking inventory of the damage. There were a few cuts from hitting the ground so hard, his side hurt from where Malfoy obviously punched him, and the frames of his glasses were crooked but other than that he seemed to be fine.

They heard the door slam and turned to see Malfoy walking towards them, "Are you two planning on ignoring the owl all day?"

"What?" they asked in unison and Malfoy rolled his eyes and pointed behind them. There was an owl patiently waiting on a chair, with a scroll held out for them.

"Oh!" gasped Hermione moving to the owl to retrieve the scroll. She gave a quick pet to the brown tawny owl before it took off again. She opened the scroll and read it quickly before smiling widely at them.

"Well?" asked Draco impatiently.

"We have an appointment at Gringotts today. They'll see us whenever we get there," replied Hermione smugly.

"Why are we going to Gringotts?" asked Harry.

"Dunce, didn't you hear her tell us we needed money earlier? Or were you too busy having a breakdown?" sneered Draco.

Harry's eyes flashed angrily and he moved closer to Draco, obviously intent on punching him again but Hermione moved herself in between them before he could act, "Boys, stop it!"

"Granger, Don't you think people might notice if I walk in with the two of you? It's not exactly common for us all to hang out," asked Draco none too nicely?

Hermione rolled her eyes and responded, "No, Malfoy, I never thought of that. Honestly, what do you take me for!" she huffed several times before she finished, "I told Gringotts you would be with us under an invisibility cloak. Otherwise they would have thought you were trying to steal from them. They're going to see us in a private room so that no one knows we were all there together."

"An invisibility cloak? Granger, do you know how hard it is to find one of those? And how are we supposed to do that while stuck here?" huffed Draco refusing to acknowledge how good of a plan it was.

"I have one," said Harry simply.

Draco scrutinized Harry for several moments but when Harry did nothing but stare back at him he replied, "Fine, then." He was quite shocked when Hermione moved closer to him and put her hand on his face to turn it to the side so she could get a better look at his split lip. She rubbed her thumb over it and said, "Harry, I believe you have something to say to Malfoy."

Harry glared, not liking Hermione touching Malfoy. He was really quite angry and realized too late that it showed, as both Hermione and Malfoy turned their gaze on him.

"Harry?" asked Hermione warily wondering if he was going to snap again.

Harry crossed his arms and huffed, "Sorry."

Draco raised his eyebrows in surprise but said nothing.

"Well, I guess that's the most I can hope for with you two." mumbled Hermione as another owl landed near her. She smiled at it and reached out to pet the grey owl then took the scroll and read it. "Professor Lupin is going to meet us here tonight, so we should get going to Gringotts soon."

Harry nodded but watched in confusion as Hermione sat down in a lounge chair and put her feet up, crossing her hands over her stomach. "Ah, Hermione?"

"Hmm?" she replied eyes still closed.

"Aren't we going now?"

Hermione groaned and moved on her side so she could pull her knees up somewhat. Harry looked at Draco, completely confused, to see the blonde roll his eyes at him. He watched at Draco moved and sat down on the lounge chair behind Hermione. He sputtered indignantly as Draco started messaging Hermione's lower back.

"Daphne always said this helped," said Draco quietly.

"Oh god, that feels so good," moaned Hermione.

"Hermione!" gasped Harry shocked.

"Honestly, Potter, calm down. She's obviously in pain and this is what she needs," said Draco snidely.

Hermione made a noise of agreement then buried her head in the lounge chair, enjoying the impromptu message.

"You know, Pansy always said a good shag got rid of the cramps," added Draco, pushing his luck as always.

Hermione shoved his hands away and quickly got up, "You're disgusting Malfoy!"

Draco chuckled and shrugged his shoulders, "I'm just saying…"

"Well don't!" snapped Hermione, thoroughly annoyed.

Harry was torn between anger and jealousy, and neither sat well with him. "Gringotts?" he asked hopefully.

"Yes, we mine as well go now. Let me just run to the bathroom first," replied Hermione, before she went inside.

As soon as the door shut Harry shoved Malfoy roughly, "What the fuck was that Malfoy?"

Draco laughed and said, "That was nothing Potter. Jealous much?"

"I'm not jealous Malfoy, I'm protective, there's a difference!" denied Harry.

Draco smiled evilly and taunted, "Sure, whatever you say, Potter. Then you won't mind when I tell you how soft Granger's skin was? Or how I could feel her muscles loosening under my fingers? Or how I could see the top of her knickers when she moved. Who knew Granger was into black lace?"

Harry roughly grabbed Draco's shirt in his fist, pulled Draco close to his face, and snarled, "Shut the fuck up, Malfoy."


	5. Chapter 5

I do not own Harry Potter.

By the time they made it to Gringotts Hermione was ready to strangle both Harry and Draco. Unfortunately for her they bickered the entire way. She couldn't even remember what they were fighting about; they were like two little old ladies bickering over nothing. She sighed, pinched the bridge of her nose and stopped in front of the stairs to Gringotts, causing them to nearly walk into her.

"What's up?" asked Harry looking around warily.

"Watch it Scarhead, I almost walked into you!" snapped Draco.

She turned to them, eyes blazing, and ground out, "Will you two please stop bickering!"

Harry immediately crossed his arms and hissed, "Have you heard any of the things he's been saying over the last hour?"

"I have Harry but it's _**Malfoy**_, surely you expect this type of thing by now?"

"Hey! You're no better _**Potter**_. Its bloody embarrassing that you know so little about the wizarding world," sneered Draco.

"Stop it!" ordered Hermione. "I don't want either of you to say one more insult! Understand?"

Harry turned his head and clenched his jaw.

"Malfoy?"

….

"Draco?"

"Fine, Granger." sulked Draco from under the cloak.

"Harry?"

"Fine." he huffed, arms still crossed.

"Good, now let's go before that group of witches come to fawn all over you, Harry."

Obviously surprised, Harry turned to look in the direction Hermione indicated and the witches squealed in delight before waving at him. He smiled sexily before turning back to see Hermione narrowing her eyes at him.

"What?"

"Nothing. If you're quite done, I'd like to go inside now," scowled Hermione, quickly walking up the stairs to enter the bank.

"Uh Oh, Potter's in trouble," teased Draco passing Harry on the stairs.

"Shut up," snapped Harry, causing the Goblin guard to look at him funny.

"I'm sorry, please just ignore Harry, he's not quite himself these days," added Hermione to try and appease the Goblin. When the Goblin narrowed his eyes at Harry then seemed to focus on the space where she thought Draco was standing Hermione said quietly, "We made arrangements to have a private meeting today, for the three of us."

The Goblin looked at her curiously then nodded and moved to let them in.

"Thank you," said Hermione before pulling Harry along with her.

"Honestly, one simple thing was all I asked," seethed Hermione under her breath as they walked to the nearest teller.

"Hello, we made arrangements to speak with the Head Goblin in private," said Hermione smiling at the Goblin.

"Key." barked the Goblin none too nicely.

It took Hermione a second to understand what he was asking for, "Oh, Harry, you need to present your key."

Harry started rummaging through his pockets, pulling a bunch of stuff from his left pocket and putting it in Hermione's cupped hands. There were various scraps of paper, money and gum. She narrowed her eyes at him and he quickly moved to the right pocket, putting more pieces of paper, money and finally he found his key, "Got it!"

Harry presented the key to the Goblin then barked, "Follow me." They followed him into a small private office and the Goblin simply ordered, "Wait." before leaving and closing the door behind him.

Draco ripped the cloak off of himself and whined, "Merlin, its bloody hot under that thing."

Hermione sat down at a small table and dropped all of Harry's junk on it. "Honestly, Harry why do you have all of this in your pockets. What is it anyway?" Hermione started going through the scraps of paper reading them out loud…

"Angela…Rebecca…Mary…Jane…"

Harry blushed and moved to compile the papers and put them back in his pocket,

"Harry! You're not seriously going to call these girls are you?" asked Hermione somewhat shocked by the sheer number of them.

"Oh, I thought I lost this one!"

"Harry!"

"What Hermione, I had to do something to pass the time, to take my mind off of things," snapped Harry.

"What's a matter Granger, you jealous?" teased Draco.

Harry raised his eyebrows as Hermione blushed and said, "No, of course not, I just worry, that's all!"

"Shit!"

"What?" asked Hermione and Draco at the same time?

"Alicia… I forgot I made plans with her for tonight. She's having a party… anyway, remind me to call her when we get back."

"I'll do no such thing," snapped Hermione, obviously quite angry.

Harry raised his eyebrows at her and said, "Okay…"

"We clearly have bigger things to worry about right now Harry, then you're love life!"

"If you ask me I think you could use a party to lighten up a little Granger. Potter, why don't we all go to this party tonight." added Draco mischievously.

Harry rubbed his neck uncomfortably causing Hermione to narrow her eyes at him and ask, "What is it Harry? Do you not want us there?"

"No! No, it's not that, it's just that… well it's a muggle party."

Hermione saw Draco scrunch up his nose in disgust and said, "Well, then it's perfect. Because Malfoy needs to learn how to interact with Muggles since we're going to be around them all summer."

Harry still didn't seem happy and Draco decided to take the opportunity to taunt him, "I don't think Potter wants us to get in his way when he's talking up his admirers."

"That's not it!" snapped Harry angrily.

"Will you two quit it!" said Hermione slapping her hand on the table.

"Yes, if you're quite finished, I don't have all day," growled a Goblin from the doorway.

All three turned instantly wands out

The Goblin sneered, "Not a smart idea to point a wand at a Goblin."

They quickly lowered their wands and Hermione apologized, "We're so sorry. We didn't hear anyone enter. We were just frightened. Please forgive us."

The Goblin nodded and moved to sit at his desk. After a minute of silence he said, "It is quite unusual to get a request for a private meeting. Even more unusual considering who you are."

"Thank you for meeting with us," started Hermione but Harry cut her off and asked, "Will everything be confidential?"

The Goblin tilted his head and observed Harry curiously before he replied, "Yes."

"You won't be informing Dumbledore or Voldermort of what transpires here?"

The Goblin flashed his teeth angrily and said, "I already indicated that whatever transpired here would be confidential, why do you insult me by asking a second time?"

"We're sorry, we didn't mean to offend you," hurried Hermione but Draco cut her off this time.

"Wizards are at war right now, Goblin, and our very lives depend on you keeping your silence. I don't think it too much to ask for your confirmation!"

The Goblin seemed to size up Draco and Harry before he answered, "Nothing you say or do in this meeting will be spoken of by me."

Both Harry and Draco relaxed and sat down in the chairs next to Hermione.

"Now, What is it you needed?" asked the Goblin.

Both Harry and Draco turned to Hermione indicating she should speak.

"There are several things we need. The first thing though is both Harry and Draco need money, muggle money and preferably a muggle credit card."

"From which accounts?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Both Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Potter have access to several vaults each."

"What?" asked Draco?

"I do?" asked Harry?

"Perhaps you could explain that to us first then," added Hermione.

"Up until recently both of you have only had access to your trust vaults. However, last month you both were given access to more vaults."

"Why?" asked Draco?

"What other vaults?" asked Harry?

"Mr. Potter, when Lord Black died, you were named as sole heir to the Black fortune. Because you are the sole heir, you became Lord Black and therefore were emancipated. Once emancipated you were able to receive full access to the Potter fortune."

Harry appeared shocked so Hermione asked, "Why wasn't Harry told this before?"

"His magical guardian, Albus Dumbledore, said he was too upset to be present at the will reading of Lord Black and that he would pass on the information. He was given a sealed package to deliver. Have you not received such package, Mr. Potter?"

"No…" replied Harry stunned.

"You said Potter was emancipated, correct?" asked Draco.

"Yes."

"Does that mean he doesn't have the trace on his wand anymore?" asked Hermione quickly catching on.

"No, he does not. The paperwork was filed with the ministry the day of the will reading. It would be illegal for them to keep the trace on an adult wizard."

"So I can do magic anytime?" asked Harry.

"Yes."

"And I'm not underage anymore? I don't need a guardian?"

"No."

"What about in the Muggle world?" asked Hermione.

"The paperwork was filed the day of the will reading, in both the magical and muggle world. This service was arranged for by Lord Black when he updated his will."

Hermione could see Harry was overwhelmed by this information so she decided to ask some more questions, "You indicated Harry has access to several vaults, could you provide a statement of each for him so that he can review it in his own time?'

"Yes, that was included in the package given to Albus Dumbledore but I will get another copy of everything for you today."

"Thank you. You also indicated Draco had access to several vaults, could you explain that as well?"

"Yes. On the same day that Lord Black died Lord Malfoy was incarcerated. A few weeks later he was convicted of a crime and sent to Azkaban. This conviction meant that the title of Lord and the head of family status passed to the next heir in line."

"Me?" asked Draco stunned.

"Yes, you are the only heir to the Malfoy fortune."

"So, does this mean that I have access to all the Malfoy vaults?"

"Yes."

"And I am now Lord Malfoy?"

"Yes."

"And I am also emancipated?"

"Yes."

"So no trace on his wand either?" asked Hermione just to be sure.

"No, the paperwork was filed two weeks ago."

"And why haven't I been notified?"

"We've tried to notify you but every time the papers come back to us. Perhaps the wards where you are do not allow entry to our owls."

Draco thought about all the changes that were made to his house since He moved in… then he thought about the wards that protected Potter. He nodded and said, "I would like to have a copy of those papers before we leave today."

The Goblin nodded curtly.

"Is it possible to create new accounts from funds in the existing ones?" asked Hermione

"Yes."

Harry and Draco both looked at her curiously and she said, "I'm probably being overcautious but think about it. Harry, Professor Dumbledore has always had access to your vault, as has Hagrid and even Mrs. Weasley. They might be able to track us somehow through it. And Draco, I'm assuming Voldermort has access to your vaults, as does your Aunt Bellatrix and numerous other death eaters, right?"

Both Harry and Draco nodded.

"If I may offer a suggestion?" said the Goblin.

"Of course," replied Hermione.

"You could review the list of authorized witches and wizards for each vault and as Head of House you could revoke access to any or all of them."

Harry suddenly stood, everything seemed to have caught up with him and he was radiating anger, "Yes, let's do that. But I also want to create a new account, in Hermione's name and link that account to muggle credit cards. I'll transfer money from one of my vaults to it, as will you Malfoy."

"What?" asked Draco confused?

"This money will fund our summer vacation," continued Harry undeterred. "We'll need credit cards for all three of us as well as for Remus Lupin and Narcissa Malfoy."

"We will?" asked Draco?

"What is the conversion rate for Galleons to Pounds?" asked Hermione ignoring Draco.

"One to Five," answered the Goblin.

"Really?" asked Hermione surprised.

"Yes."

"Is that good?" asked Harry.

"Honestly Potter, even I know that getting five of something for one is good!" sneered Draco.

"Would we be able to look at the account statements now before we decide how much to deposit in the new account?" asked Hermione.

"Yes. I'll go get them now for you." replied the Goblin.

As soon as the door closed Harry started venting, "What the fuck! Why didn't I know any of this! Why the fuck did Dumbledore keep this from me? And when the hell was Sirius' will read? I didn't know any of this! I'm so fucking sick of everyone making decisions for me! They've kept me locked up like a prisoner all summer and I'm fucking emancipated! They had no right!"

Hermione tried to pacify him but he was having none of it, quickly moving away from her.

"I hate to say it, Granger, but Potter's right. He should have known about this. Wizarding law is very clear when it comes to Head of House status, and hiding things from a Head of House is a huge offense. The laws were made to protect purebloods long ago. That's why I asked why I wasn't informed. It's illegal to deny me what's rightfully mine. The only reason I didn't raise a stink was because I know there were ward changes on my house and then I've been with you at Potter's and the wards are different there too."

"I'm sure Dumbledore didn't mean to keep it from you Harry. He probably just didn't want to upset you."

Both Harry and Draco looked at Hermione like she was crazy and Draco said, "Granger, Dumbledore could go to Azkaban for this. It doesn't matter what he thinks, it's wizarding law that an heir has to be notified when they become Head of House. There's no exceptions, even for the great Dumbledore."

"But, I'm sure…"

"Hermione, I don't fucking care what Dumbledore wants! It's my life! I've been stuck in that fucking hellhole all my life! If I had a chance to leave…" Harry stopped, unable to control his emotions anymore. He closed his eyes and willed himself to calm down. His anger was starting to become rage and he didn't want to say or do something to Hermione that he would regret.

Hermione went to reach out to Harry but Draco grabbed her arm to prevent her from touching him, shaking his head at her. She frowned but listened to him anyway.

The silence was broken when the Goblin returned with several pieces of parchment in his hand. He walked over to the table and began placing them into two piles.

"This pile is for Mr. Potter," he said pointing to the left pile, "And this pile is for Mr. Malfoy," he said pointing to the right pile. "I'll let you review these documents, just open the door and ask the guard for me when you are ready to discuss them." Then he turned and left again.

Harry sat down at the table and began reading the parchments, as did Draco. Hermione sat down in between them in case they wanted her opinion on anything. After a few minutes Harry sighed and said, "I don't understand any of this."

Draco snorted before he grabbed one of Harry's parchments and turned it so he could read it. After a minute he began explaining it to Harry, "Look here at the top, that's the total amount of money the vault started with when it was opened."

"That's your birthday Harry."

Draco waited for Harry to nod then continued, "Then each line underneath indicates the amount of money added or taken and who did it. So here you can see that your Mum added the same amount of money every month to the account, it must have been her pay. Looks like your Dad did the same thing, every month the same amount was added. Here was a one-time addition from Charles Potter, then another one time addition from Sirius Black."

"That's so much… why would a baby need this much money?" asked Harry thoroughly confused.

"This is tradition in Pureblood families when an heir is born, the families give large sums of money to start the trust vault." replied Draco.

Hermione squeezed Harry's hand, knowing he would rather have his family alive then have all this money.

"It looks like it's all additions for the first year, then it stops suddenly…" Draco belatedly realized that was because his family was murdered, and cleared his throat before speaking again, "So there's nothing for a while until here when the withdrawals start." He scrutinized the lines carefully before he said, "Here, these ones, must be your tuition for Hogwarts, but these, I'm not sure what they're for."

"Which ones?" asked Hermione leaning in?

"These," replied Draco pointing at a few lines after the tuition, "They're always for the same amount, three thousand galleons, and seem to be withdrawn every six months."

"Can you tell who withdrew them?" asked Harry.

"No, it doesn't say. The other withdrawals clearly state Hogwarts, but these are just blank."

"That's odd," mused Hermione.

"Yes, and this is even odder," said Draco pointing at one line where 25000 galleons are withdrawn, indicating House Black.

"Maybe Sirius needed money?" asked Harry.

Draco snorted and said, "Potter, even I know how loaded the Blacks are. Here let's look at the Black vault statement." Draco shuffled a bunch of parchments around until he found the right one, "See, look, the Black Vault has over 10 million galleons in it."

"What?" asked Harry clearly shocked?

"Oh my," gasped Hermione.

"Now this statement is much clearer. There are no deposits or withdrawals for over 15 years. When the activity starts up again, it clearly states Lord Black. This is what the Potter vault should look like…. where is that one?"

This time Hermione shuffled through the papers and found two sheets, both with the Potter name on the top.

"Hmm." said Draco looking at both of them for several minutes before he said, "This one looks like another trust vault. See how there was a large amount added here from the Potter vault then another large amount added by Sirius Black and then nothing…" Draco thought carefully, not sure he wanted to say what he was thinking to Harry.

"What?" asked Harry somehow sensing this was a bad thing?

"Do you really want to know?" asked Draco.

Harry closed his eyes and sighed before he responded, "Yeah."

"It looks like another trust vault. It was started in September of 1981."

"Right before they died." added Harry before he asked, "There's no withdrawals though?"

"No."

"So there was no baby."

"It doesn't look like it," replied Draco, actually feeling pretty bad for Harry.

"Oh, Harry," gasped Hermione moving to hug him.

He buried his head in Hermione's hair and hugged her before he whispered; "My Mum was pregnant when she died."


	6. Chapter 6

I do not own Harry Potter.

By the time they made it back to Privet Drive Harry was fit to be tied. Even Draco could feel how close to the edge he was. It was a pleasant surprise for Draco to learn he was Head of House now but clearly Dumbledore had no intention on telling Harry and that just made his head spin. Why would the Chief of the Wizengamot, the Headmaster of Hogwarts interfere in Potter's life so much? He had to know he was breaking all sorts of laws by keeping the information from him so what was the payoff? Was he hoping to use Potter's money to fund his Order? Surely there were other sources of money… And why would he not tell Potter he was emancipated? What purpose did that serve? None of it made any sense.

Harry was radiating so much anger that she was frankly scared of him. He was storming ahead of her and Draco and she had to practically run to keep up with him. Part of her wanted to believe that Professor Dumbledore had Harry's best interest in mind when he decided not to tell Harry about Sirius' will but the bigger part of her felt that it was time to pick a side. Time to either support Harry or support the Order. She couldn't believe she was even thinking this but clearly Harry was going to go his own way and now with Malfoy, she knew the Order would never understand. Would never be able to help him, they would simply use him like they did Professor Snape and she knew Harry would not allow that. No matter how much grief Malfoy had put them through Harry had given his word and that was as good as all the gold in Gringotts.

Harry stormed into his house and took the stairs two at a time, but instead of heading to his room he went straight into Dudley's room, slamming the door shut behind him. Hermione and Draco stood outside the door nervously, wondering what to do when finally Draco motioned to Harry's room and she followed him in. Draco sat on the bed and Hermione sat on the chair, both unsure what to say while they waited for Harry. They heard yelling at first then just muffled voices before a door opened and slammed shut followed by Harry entering his room and kicking the door shut as he held a box in his hand. He barely noticed either of them as he stepped on his bed to sit in his windowsill and opened the box on his lap.

Hermione gasped when she saw what was inside, "Harry! Is that what I think it is?"

Harry simply grunted in response and Draco peered over to see Harry rolling something in papers. It looked like potion ingredients to him, "What is it?"

"Something that's going to calm me down," grunted Harry as he lit it up and took a deep drag from it.

"Harry! For goodness sake, stop that this instant!" huffed Hermione.

Harry took several more drags and placed his head against the windowsill and closed his eyes, willing the anger to go away. After several minutes he seemed much calmer and took another drag, watching Hermione and Draco watch him. It was curious that these two were witnessing him at his worst, at his lowest. When he spoke, his voice was gruff, "Sorry, but I needed to calm down."

Hermione looked like she was holding back tears when she replied, "Harry, I'm so worried about you." She moved to rest her hands on his knees and he patted one of them gently as he nodded, "I know 'Mione. I promise I'm still me, I just have some shit to work out."

"What is that and why does it smell so bad?" sneered Draco.

Harry laughed throatily and said, "It's a muggle drug, weed. Good stuff too. Has a nice calming effect on me, which is good considering I was almost homicidal not 10 minutes ago."

"And you do this often? It smells horrid," asked Draco curiously.

Harry shrugged and simply replied, "It's been a rough summer."

Draco nodded and stood up reaching out for the joint, to which Hermione gasped, "Harry, don't you dare! It's bad enough you're doing drugs, don't drag Malfoy down with you!"

Draco smirked at Hermione as he took the joint from Harry and said, "I had no idea you cared Granger."

Hermione spluttered, "I don't! It's just the principle of it, I mean, really!"

Harry laughed and said, "Start small Malfoy or you'll be coughing all night."

Draco raised his eyebrows at Harry before he raised the joint to his lips and took what he thought was a small drag… and just when he thought he had done it right, he was overcome with the need to cough his lungs up. He could hear Harry laughing and he could feel Hermione clapping and rubbing his back to help him. When he was done hacking he gasped, "Bloody hell."

"Honestly, why don't either of you just listen to me, it would save you so much trouble!" huffed Hermione.

"That's fucking awful," groaned Malfoy still trying to catch his breath.

Harry smirked and said, "Wait for it."

"Oh, enough of this already! We need to figure out what we're going to talk to Professor Lupin about; he's going to be here soon. It's bad enough we probably all reek right now!" raged Hermione storming over to the window Harry wasn't sitting on and opening it to try and let the fresh air in. Since it was blazingly hot outside, it really didn't help much at all. Giving up she huffed and sat down in the chair at Harry's desk, looking like she would very much like to cry.

Harry frowned and handed the joint back to Malfoy as he got down and moved to kneel in front of her. He grabbed her face in his hands and pulled it up to meet his gaze as he rubbed his thumbs along her cheeks, "Hey, now, none of that. I'm sorry; I didn't mean to upset you. I just needed a break, needed to calm down. I was afraid of what I was going to do if I didn't calm down fast. Can you forgive me?"

Draco started choking in the background and Hermione couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time. "I feel like I'm in some sort of alternate universe. I'm sitting here in your bedroom while you and Malfoy smoke a joint…it's completely unbelievable and I'm just so hormonal right now anyway. I have no idea why I'm crying… I hate crying, it makes me feel like such a _girl_."

Harry and Draco both laughed at that but Harry tempered it with a sweet kiss to her forehead and said, "Come on. Let's go outside and figure out what were going to tell Lupin. It's bloody hot in here."

They stood and turned to Draco who was happily lying back on Harry's bed, hands behind his head, joint in his mouth. "I think you've had enough there Lord Malfoy," smirked Harry taking the joint away and putting it out against the bottom of his trainer.

Draco made a half hearted attempt to grab Harry but ended up just smiling roguishly as he stood unsteadily and pulled Hermione into a hug, "Oh god," groaned Hermione, "He's a happy drunk."

"Technically, he's high, not drunk," bantered Harry.

Hermione simply glared at him as Draco continued to hold onto her, "Not helping!"

Harry chuckled, opened the door and joked, "Come on lovebirds, time to go outside."

"Stop bloody ordering me around Potter!" whined Draco.

"That's Lord Potter-Black to you!" teased Harry

"Then it's Lord Malfoy to you!" countered Draco before he leaned into Hermione and said, "But you can call me whatever you want sweetheart."

Harry roared in laughter when he heard that, wishing he had a video camera to show this to Ron. "Hey Lord Malfoy, get your ass downstairs and stop hitting on my best friend!"

"It's not like you're going to make a move anytime soon, Lord Potter-Black, so why shouldn't I?" asked Draco as he descended the stairs, holding Hermione's hand, much to her embarrassment. She couldn't seem to shake him off…

Harry took in her flushed face and smirked at her as Draco practically dragged her through the kitchen. Finally, she decided enough was enough and pulled away hard, causing Draco to turn with the force of her pull. "Sorry, I want to take some medicine, I'll meet you both outside in a minute."

They both nodded and left through the back door, allowing Hermione to finally breathe. She got herself a glass of water and took her medicine before she gathered her thoughts and headed outside. She nearly choked when she saw that both boys had taken their shirts off and were lying down on the grass in the sun. She cleared her throat and stepped passed them sitting on the chaise. "You two look comfy."

"Mmm. The sun feels amazing," replied Draco.

She rolled her eyes when Harry replied, "I'm surprised you haven't burst into flames yet Malfoy, you're as pale as a vampire."

"_Lord_ Malfoy." reminded Draco.

"Lord _pale ass_ Malfoy," countered Harry laughing.

Draco rolled his eyes and said, "Oh please Potter, what are you trying to look like a Greek God?"

"_Lord_ Potter." reminded Harry smirking then he said, "Yeah, I think a Greek God will do. Better than a pale ass vampire, at least."

Draco half-heartedly shoved Harry who returned the shove, followed by the two rough housing for the next 15 minutes and just generally having a good time. Surprised Hermione hadn't stopped them Harry looked up to see her sound asleep on the chaise. He got Draco's attention and shushed him as he pointed to Hermione. She looked absolutely beautiful. At some point she had taken her outer button down shirt off and was only wearing a white tank top with a pair of blue denim shorts. They weren't as short as Harry had seen some of the girls wear but they definitely showcased her creamy thighs. He followed her legs down to her cute little toes, which were painted perfectly in a soft pink.

"Has she always been this beautiful?" asked Draco dumbfounded?

Harry shook his head and said, "I have no idea. She is quite a site though, isn't she?"

"Yeah."

"Ron would kill me if he could hear the thoughts running through my head right now," snorted Harry getting up off the ground.

Draco followed him and moved to sit on the couch, grabbing his shirt to wipe the sweat off his face. "Really? Granger and _Weasley_?"

"No, I mean they're not together, but I know Ron fancies her."

Draco snorted and said, "So? I think it's fair to say that half of Hogwarts has fancied Granger since the Yule Ball in Fourth year, that doesn't mean they own her."

"Really?" asked Harry stupefied.

Draco rolled his eyes and said, "You can't seriously be that clueless Potter! Even you had to notice how she looked that night!"

Harry nodded and said, "Well, yeah but she's my best friend."

"Mmm. And you never thought about more?" smirked Draco.

Harry blushed and looked away.

"What's stopping you? She's here. _With you_. Not Weasley."

When Harry refused to reply Draco decided to push, "Well, then I guess you won't mind if I get a little closer with her then. I mean, if we're going to be spending the summer together anyway."

Harry glared at him and snarled, "You're high."

Draco shrugged and replied, "Maybe but it's still the truth. She's hot and she's going to be the only witch around all summer."

"You're such an arrogant ass Malfoy, she'll see right through you."

"And that will work out well for you, right. It'll push her straight into your arms," smirked Draco.

Harry gaped at him, knowing he was right, but highly uncomfortable with the idea. Before he could respond he heard the backdoor open and saw Remus come through. He stood and waved Remus over. As Remus began walking over to Harry he could tell when he noticed Malfoy because he stopped walking and reached for his wand, looking at Harry confused. When Harry simply shook his head and waved him over again, he left his wand in place and finished walking over. Stopping in surprise when he saw Hermione asleep in the chaise.

"Harry," said Remus, pulling him in for a hug.

"Hey Remus," replied Harry, trying to reign his tumultuous emotions in. He felt like he was always on the verge of a break down these days.

"So, what brings me here tonight?" asked Remus pulling away and sitting down across from Harry and Draco, and next to Hermione.

"It's complicated," replied Harry.

"I gathered that since Mr. Malfoy is sitting here with us as well as Miss Granger."

"Before I tell you what's going on, I need to know I can trust you," Harry shook his head when he saw the look of hurt pass across Remus' eyes, "No, that's not what I meant. I know I can trust you but this is so much more than just my life at stake. The others need to know that they can trust you."

"What others?" asked Remus curiously?

"It's…"

"Complicated?" finished Remus smirking before he asked, "Alright, do you want a wizards oath that I won't betray your trust?"

"No. We want a Wizards oath that you won't tell Dumbledore anything that we discuss, now or in the future," added Draco.

Remus reeled back in shock and looked at Harry surprised, "Harry… Professor Dumbledore only wants to protect you. He's done so much to keep you safe all these years, you have no idea."

Harry's face-hardened and he snarled, "Oh, I think I have a fair idea of how safe I've been all these years. What he's been _protecting_ me from."

"Harry, I know you're upset…about… Sirius," Remus gulped before he continued, "But Dumbledore couldn't have done anything more to help, he came as fast as he could and he saved you from Voldemort."

Harry laughed cruelly and said; "You think _he saved me_ from Voldemort? He didn't do anything other than distract Tom, the first chance Tom got he entered my body and do you know who pushed him out? I did! Not Dumbledore, me! I did it! If Dumbledore is so fucking powerful why does he always leave it to me to fight Tom? Hmm. Ever thought about that Remus?"

"Harry?" mumbled Hermione sleepily, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, Sorry, I woke you, Hermione."

She sat up and looked around, surprised to see Remus, "Professor Lupin! I'm sorry; I didn't realize you were here. Harry, you should have woken me sooner."

Harry just waved her request away.

"Hello Hermione, I just got here a few minutes ago. Harry was just telling me some interesting things, would you care to help me understand what's going on?"

Hermione bit her lip and looked to Harry and then Draco before she gathered her courage and said, "That depends on whether or not you've taken a Wizards oath not to relay any of this information back to Professor Dumbledore."

Remus sat back, completely floored that Hermione Granger, the most sensible, logical, brilliant witch of her age was asking the same thing that both Harry and Draco asked for. He knew it must be important for her to ask this and he knew that he would never find out what was going on if he didn't take this oath. He thought of Sirius and what he would have done and he knew that Sirius would have taken any and all oaths Harry asked for just to help him. And with that though his mind was made up. He nodded and raised his wand, "I, Remus Lupin, hereby declare that I will not repeat any of the information discussed today with Albus Dumbledore, so mote it be." There was a brilliant flash of light and when it dissipated he could see all three of them smiling at him and he just knew he had done the right thing.


	7. Chapter 7

I do not own Harry Potter

As soon as Remus left Harry dashed into the house to get the cordless phone, coming back out with it at his ear.

"Who are you calling?" asked Hermione confused.

In response Harry just waved her away, causing Draco to snicker and Hermione to cross her arms in a huff.

"Hey baby."

Harry chuckled sexily in response to something said on the other line and said, "I'm sorry babes, but some friends dropped by unannounced and I'm not going to be able to come over tonight."

He frowned momentarily then said, "I don't know if that's such a good idea babes."

He then grinned mischievously and asked, "Is that a promise?"

A bark of laughter followed causing Hermione to growl and Draco asked, "Jealous much, Granger?"

Harry looked at them questioningly before he asked, "Do you guys want to go to a party tonight?"

Hermione rolled her eyes and Draco replied, "Hell yes."

"Hermione?"

Hermione glared at Draco who was clearly challenging her and huffed, "Fine!"

Harry smiled widely and returned to his call, "Alright baby, they're in, I'll see you in a bit."

They all heard a squeal on the other end before Harry hung up.

"Baby?" asked Hermione indignant.

Harry shrugged his shoulders and said, "Its easier to call them all Baby, this way I don't mess up their names."

Draco laughed and Hermione gasped, "Harry!"

"What Hermione?" growled Harry, "Don't I deserve to have a little fun? Everyone I love is fucking dead!" he roared, causing Hermione to step back away from him, slightly terrified.

Draco frowned and moved in front of her instinctively causing Harry's eyes to widen in shock, "Shit, Hermione I'm sorry."

Hermione shook her head as she crossed her arms and fled back into the house, wiping her tears away as she went.

"Nice Potter."

"Fuck!" swore Harry regretfully.

Hermione ran up the stairs to Harry's bedroom and slammed the door, collapsing on the bed, crying. _What was wrong with her? Why did she care if Harry had a girlfriend? She didn't! It was just the principle of it really! She was a girl and would it kill him to see her as one every once in a while? Fuck him! She would show him! She was going to look fucking amazing tonight and when all the blokes were falling all over themselves to get near her, maybe then he would fucking notice her! She'd show him!_

Wiping her face of tears, she got up off the bed, grabbed her bag and went into the bathroom, determined to make Harry regret never looking at her that way.

Harry and Draco gave Hermione some time before they went upstairs, only to find she was in the shower. They both changed and waited for quite a while before she emerged. Draco was the first one to see her and he whistled, then added, "Looking hot, Granger."

Harry, who had his back towards her collecting something out of his desk turned and his eyes nearly bulged out of his head. She looked fucking hot and he felt his body responding to her, "Bloody hell Hermione."

She smirked at him as she moved into the room and threw her bag down before she turned back and asked, "Ready?"

Harry seemed to be staring at her chest, or rather the ample cleavage that was shown above her tank top. She had a tight black tank top on with the word "Witch" written in red across her chest. She also had a pair of black short shorts on, in fact Harry had never seen her wear anything like this before and he thought he just might pass out. Her legs looked so long_, did she get taller in the last half hour_, he thought as his eyes scanned her, coming to rest at a pair of black tennis shoes. She cleared her throat and raised her eyebrow at Harry making him blush for checking her out, "Um. Yeah, sure. Let's go."

Harry shook his head then retrieved several condoms out of his desk drawer and turned to hand some to Draco.

"What's this?" he asked.

Hermione turned to see what Harry had and gasped, "Harry!"

Harry raised his eyebrow at her and said, "What? Better safe than sorry." Then he turned to Malfoy and said, "You can't use a spell with Muggles, and this is how Muggles prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. You need to wear this if you're going to have sex."

Draco took one from Harry and looked at it strangely, causing Harry to laugh before he said, "Look, just have the girl put it on you if you find yourself needing it. Because there's no way I'm showing you how to do it."

Hermione huffed and Harry looked at her questioningly

"Don't I get one?" she snapped.

Harry looked at her darkly and growled, "No."

"Why not?" she huffed indignantly.

"Because you're not going to be sleeping with anyone, that's why!"

"Says who? You? You're not my father Harry!"

Harry growled and entered her personal space before he ground out, "You're too good for any of the blokes that will be there tonight, and I'll rip their hands off if they so much as try anything on you. Got it?"

Hermione swallowed, Harry was downright scary like this, and even though she wanted to fight with him just because it wasn't fair, she found herself nodding in acquiescence. He nodded tightly and moved out of her way, motioning for her to go first out of the door.

After she left Draco asked, "Possessive much, Potter?"

"Shut it, Malfoy." snapped Harry as he left the room, followed by a chuckling Draco.

They walked in silence for at least five minutes before Draco couldn't take it anymore, "So, am I going to be able to fit in?"

Hermione turned and smiled at him before she said, "Just don't act like a snob and you'll be fine Draco."

"What's a snob?" he asked confused.

Harry laughed and said, "Someone who thinks they're better than everyone else."

Draco stopped, obviously thinking how he _was _better than everyone, but simply nodded in response.

"Don't drink too much, either of you, I don't want to have to worry about the two of you getting yourself into trouble the whole time," added Hermione.

"How sweet, Granger, I didn't know you cared," replied Draco, wrapping his arm around her.

She glared at him but just before she was going to shake out of his embrace she noticed Harry looked quite upset that Draco was touching her. Hmm. Maybe, I'll just play along. "Well Draco," she responded, fluttering her eyelashes at him, "perhaps you can keep me company when Harry's off with his _baby_?"

Draco chuckled at Harry's growl and said, "It would be my pleasure," wiggling his eyebrows as he looked down at her chest.

Hermione rolled her eyes and pushed him away, "Pervert!"

"What, you've got a nice rack, Granger," replied Draco, nonplussed.

Harry growled and shoved Draco away from her, as he moved to stand next to Hermione, who simply laughed at their antics.

"So Harry, tell us about the girl you're going to this party for?" asked Hermione.

Harry smiled and said, "Her names Alicia, she a year older than me. Tall, dark hair, dark eyes, very hot… She tells me she has a thing for bad boys."

"What's she doing with you then?" teased Draco.

Harry shoved Draco away and gave him the finger as Hermione rolled her eyes and asked, "Have you been seeing her for a while?"

Harry shook his head no and said, "No, I've only seen her a few times but she's a hell of a lot of fun."

"Do you know anyone else that's going to be there?"

"Yeah, I've hung out with a bunch of them over the summer so far. They party a lot…"

"Well, I'm glad you're at least having some fun," said Hermione softly.

Harry looked at her for a minute before nodding and pointing to the right, motioning them to go that way. A few minutes later they arrived outside a very loud house, with teenagers pretty much everywhere.

Hermione looked at Draco before they followed Harry in. They were barely in the door before someone squealed, "Harry!" and launched themselves at Harry, literally jumping on him and wrapping her legs around his waist before she kissed him passionately.

Hermione and Draco took a quick step away and awkwardly looked around while Harry thoroughly enjoyed his greeting. Finally Hermione cleared her throat and snapped, "Harry!" causing him to break away, slightly breathless and said, "Hey babes, miss me?"

The brunette giggled and asked, "Want me to show you how much?"

"Definitely, just not right now." replied Harry pulling her legs down off of him, setting her down in front of him. He then turned to Hermione and Draco and said, "Alicia, these are my friends, Hermione and Draco."

She turned away from him and smiled at them and said, "Hi, I'm Alicia! I'm glad you could come, I was in desperate need to see Harry tonight."

Hermione barely smiled at the girl and Draco rolled his eyes and said, "You poor girl, want me to show you what a real man is?"

Alicia laughed and flirted back, "Hmm. Depends? Are you up for a challenge? He's quite good in the sack?"

Hermione nearly choked on the drink she had picked up as they walked into the kitchen while Draco said sexily, "Good doesn't even touch what I am in the sack."

Alicia giggled as Harry growled and pulled her back to his side and said, "Fuck off Draco! She's mine."

Draco laughed, "That's alright Harry, I've got Hermione to keep me company tonight, don't I?" asked Draco pulling her into his arms, causing her eyes to widen in surprise.

Harry narrowed his eyes at Draco but was pulled away by Alicia before he could say anything about it. Hermione pushed herself away from Draco and asked, "Honestly, will you do anything just to piss him off?"

Draco shrugged in response, grabbed a drink and started moving through the crowded house to find a seat. He couldn't help but notice there were some seriously good-looking girls here. When he turned to tell Hermione just that he realized she was nowhere in sight. He stopped and looked around for her, finding her surrounded by several blokes. Frowning, he moved back towards her but was interrupted by a pretty blonde girl.

"Hey," she said putting herself in his path.

"Hi," smirked Draco.

"I'm Ashley," she giggled.

"Draco."

"Draco? That's an interesting name."

"Yeah, what can I say, I'm an interesting bloke."

She giggled again and Draco found himself forgetting all about Hermione as he looked down at the blonde cutie.

Hermione was on her second drink and was having quite a good time. She was surrounded by several very good looking blokes and found herself laughing quite a bit. They seemed nice enough.

"Hey, do you want to play a game with us?" the one named Michael asked. He was certainly the best looking one. He was tall, muscular and very handsome. She thought he might be Italian or Greek as he had a nice tan with dark hair and dark eyes.

Hermione giggled and said, "As long as it's not Spin the Bottle."

They all laughed and Michael said, "No, it's a drinking game. Come on, it's easier to do at the table."

The group moved to the table and explained the game to Hermione, who honestly had no idea what they were talking about, so she asked to watch one round first before she joined. Michael sat down and pulled her onto his lap, which she found she didn't quite mind at all. He was quite handsome. Before long she found herself joining the game and having a fantastic time.

Harry grabbed a couple of drinks and followed Alicia upstairs to her bedroom. She shut the door and turned to Harry grinning mischievously and said, "I'm so glad you came tonight?"

Harry grinned and replied, "So am I," as he moved over to the bed and lay down on his side, propping his head up with his hand watching her.

She smiled and began slowly taking her clothes off for him. First went her shorts, leaving her in a black lace thong. Then she took her tank top off to reveal that she had no bra on.

Harry crooked his finger at her, beckoning her forward and she did so immediately moving in front of him. He reached out with his left hand and pulled her forward to begin sucking on her breast.

She moaned and wrapped her hands in his hair holding him close to her.

Harry grinned and moved his left hand down to pull her underwear off, smacking her ass for good measure, causing her to squeal.

He laughed as he got up and tossed her onto the bed, quickly removing his clothes before he joined her. Her giggles quickly turned to moans as he began scattering kisses all over her body.

"Oh God! Harry!" she moaned over and over again until she was screaming in release.

Harry licked his lips as he moved up her body and grinned down at her, "Feel good Babe?"

"Fuck, yeah," she gasped before pulling him in for a scorching kiss.

Harry smirked as he pulled away and reached for his jeans on the floor, grabbing a condom out of them and ripping it open with his teeth.

"Let me do it Baby," she whispered to him.

Harry smirked and handed it to her to put on him. When she was finished she pulled him in for another kiss, then pushed his shoulders back until he got the hint and lay down on his back, letting her climb on top of him, slowly easing him in.

He closed his eyes and moaned at the feeling before he started squeezing her hips asking her to move. She smirked at him before she slowly began moving up and down, using his chest and thighs for balance.

"Fuck," he moaned.

"What's that baby?" she asked.

"Feels fucking good," he moaned.

"Does it feel good when I do this baby?" she asked squeezing him tightly.

"God, yes," replied Harry.

"How about when I do this?" she asked slamming down hard.

"Fuck!"

"Come on baby, harder," pleaded Alicia.

Harry growled before he flipped them over and started doing exactly what she asked, holding both her legs back with his hands so he could hit her sweet spot each time. He continued hard and fast for a while until Alicia begged him to stop.

"What's wrong? Did I hurt you?" he asked panting, as he flopped down on his side next to her.

She shook her head no, "No…. I just need to rest for a bit, I'm exhausted."

Harry grinned and wiped the sweat from his face before he pulled her in for a deep kiss. He pulled her closer and let his hands wander, causing her to shiver slightly.

"Are you cold?" he asked, grinning devilishly at her.

"If I say yes, will you warm me up?"

"Hell yeah," he replied pushing her back and climbing on top of her before he entered her for the second time that night. He took it nice and slow, not wanting to tire her out again.

"Harry," she gasped

"Yeah?" he asked looking in her eyes.

She looked quite vulnerable as she asked him, "Will you stay with me tonight?"

Harry kissed her then said, "I'll try Baby."

She nodded and pulled him in for another kiss as they continued to enjoy themselves.

Back downstairs Draco was having a hard time believing his eyes. Hermione Granger was straddling some guys lap, snogging him senseless.

"Ah, Hermione?" he said standing next to her. When he got no response, he rolled his eyes and moved closer to her and yelled, "Hermione!"

She jumped and pulled away from the bloke she was kissing, blushing prettily when she saw Draco so close.

"Having fun?" smirked Draco

"Shut up!" hissed Hermione, "What do you want Malfoy?"

"Oh we're back to last names now?" teased Draco.

Hermione rolled her eyes and said, "What do you want?"

"Are you drunk?"

"Of course not!" she huffed, causing Draco to raise his eyebrows at her.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

"I don't believe you. Let me see you walk a straight line."

"No!"

"Why not?"

"Because I'm not drunk!"

"Prove it Granger!"

She huffed and tried to disentangle herself from Michael's lap, losing her balance several times in the process of trying to stand.

Draco was laughing quite loudly during the whole thing and said, "Right, Granger, you're not drunk! Come on, I think it's time to take you home before you end up in this blokes bed."

Michael tried to intervene but one look from Draco made it clear that he wasn't going to win. Hermione found herself having to hold onto Draco to walk without falling down. She spent a fair amount of time giggling into his chest, much to his amusement. When they got to the front door Draco asked a girl to go up to Alicia's room and tell Harry they were leaving.

The girl came down a few minutes later and said, "He said he would be down in a minute."

"Thank you," replied Draco. He sat down on the stairs with Hermione leaning her head on his shoulder and waited for Harry to come down.

Several minutes later Harry came bounding down the stairs, tucking his shirt in on the way and asked, "What's going on?"

"Granger's drunk and I had to intervene before she lost her virginity in the kitchen," huffed Draco.

"Hey! I'm not drunk! And Michael was very nice!" replied Hermione poking Draco in the chest.

"Yes, I'm sure you're parents would have loved him." placated Draco

"Alright, Let's go," replied Harry frowning at the state she was in. She looked somewhat debauched and Harry felt somewhat guilty that he left her to fend for herself.

Draco stood and pulled Hermione up, who immediately wrapped her arms around him, causing Harry to frown further. "Bloody hell Hermione, how much did you drink?"

She giggled, then hiccupped, then giggled again and Harry replied, "Never mind. Time to go."

"Uh oh, Harry's mad at me," whispered Hermione to Draco, although Harry clearly heard her.

"I'm not mad at you, Hermione," grinned Harry as he moved in front of her and crouched down, "Come on, get on, I'll carry you home."

Hermione squealed in delight and wrapped her arms around Harry's neck as he reached behind him and pulled her legs around him, finally standing up with her fully on his back.

She giggled the whole way back to Harry's house, causing him to laugh and say, "What am I going to do with you, Hermione."

"You love me and you know it Potter," she teased.

He laughed and Draco said, "You know, you two are actually somewhat fun when you drink. Or maybe it's that I'm drunk and it helps me tolerate you?"

Harry snorted and said, "Thanks, I guess."

"Draco wouldn't let me stay with Michael tonight," huffed Hermione.

Harry mouthed, "Thank you," to Draco who simply nodded in response.

"He was soooo cute and he was a really good kisser too!"

"Hermione, if I have to hear any more about Michael, I'm never letting you drink again," retorted Harry.

"Oh please, like we don't know where you headed off to!"

Harry had the decency to blush

"Yeah, that's what I thought! How would you like it if next time I disappeared into some blokes bedroom?" snapped Hermione.

Harry growled and said, "Not happening Hermione."

"You're such a hypocrite Harry Potter!"

"I'm surprisingly fine with that," he retorted as they reached his door and he put her down so he could open the door. "Am I going to have to carry you up the stairs too, or do you think you can handle it?"

Hermione rolled her eyes and moved to step into the house, tripping over the doormat as she entered, causing both Harry and Draco to snicker before they shut the door.


	8. Chapter 8

I do not own Harry Potter.

Hermione woke in excruciating pain not only from cramps but it seemed she also had a splitting headache. She groaned loudly and covered her head with the pillow as she rolled over onto her stomach and pulled her knees up to help stretch her aching back. She groaned some more and swore under her breath, "fuck."

"Morning Granger," said Draco happily.

Her only response was another groan, causing him to laugh.

The noise woke Harry and he groaned as he sat up and stretched, "My back is killing me. This floor is_ not_ comfortable." He turned to the bed to see Hermione stretching and quickly turned away when he saw a flash of skin. He cleared his throat and asked, "How are you feeling Hermione?"

"Awful," she groaned, causing Harry to chuckle.

At his laugh she turned her head and scrunched up her face in confusion, "Harry, why are you on the floor?"

Harry blushed and shrugged, looking away.

Draco snorted and said, "Maybe because the first thing you did when we got upstairs was strip and get into bed. Potter here is too chivalrous for his own good."

Hermione looked horrified and sat up quickly, groaning when her head pounded. She looked down and saw that she was wearing the black tank top from last night, she then lifted the covers and squeaked when she saw she was wearing nothing but her knickers.

Draco laughed and said, "Nice knickers by the way."

In response Hermione threw the pillow at his head, making Harry laugh.

"I'm so sorry Harry! I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable," blushed Hermione.

Harry waved her off and said, "It's fine Hermione. I just didn't think you'd appreciate waking up in bed with me when you were dressed like that."

Hermione frowned at him, but said nothing.

Confused he looked to Draco, who simply rolled his eyes at how dense Harry was.

Hermione groaned again and Harry asked, "Are you OK?"

"God, no. My head is pounding and to top it off I still have killer cramps. Can you just knock me out and wake me up again tomorrow?"

Harry looked at her concerned, she was curled up in the fetal position facing him, "Is there something I can get you?"

She scrunched up her face in pain before she asked hopefully, "Would you? Your Aunt put a bunch of stuff for me in the drawer in the bathroom. I just need some pain medicine and some water."

Harry nodded and stood, giving Hermione a very close view of his naked chest and his boxers. She blushed fiercely when she saw the trail of hair leading down his abdomen, but Harry didn't seem to notice as he left the room in search of what she asked for.

"Somebody's got the hots for Potter," teased Draco.

"Shut up, Malfoy!" replied Hermione, horrified that she was caught checking Harry out by Draco of all people.

"Testy, testy," he snickered, as he sat on the bed next to her, "Roll over and I'll message your back."

She glared at him but willingly rolled over and lowered the covers so he could access her back. He pushed her tank top up further so he could touch her bare skin and Hermione moaned when he started messaging her. "So Granger, this is the second time I've seen you in lace knickers. I never took you for a lace girl."

"You're such a pervert Malfoy," replied Hermione, but there was no venom in her words and she didn't even attempt to move away from him.

He laughed and replied, "Yeah, well it's been a few weeks since I last got some, so…"

"Is that all you guys think about?"

"Sex? Yeah, pretty much."

"I don't get it," said Hermione quietly.

At this point Harry walked back in but stopped in his tracks when he saw Draco on the bed with his hands on Hermione. His eyes flashed dangerously but Draco ignored him and replied to Hermione, "That's cause you're still a virgin, Granger."

Hermione scoffed and said, "How do you know I'm a virgin, maybe I'm not."

Draco chuckled and replied, "It's just a hunch, Granger, but there's nothing wrong with being a virgin." Then he leaned down closer to her ear and said huskily, "In fact, I find it particularly sexy. Makes me want to corrupt you."

Harry's eyed widened and he cleared his throat as he moved to the bed and held the cup out for Hermione. She was blushing like crazy when she sat up to take the medicine Harry handed her. He tried to ignore her exposed abdomen and her very sexy knickers… _holy shit she was wearing red lace knickers. Merlin's pants did she have to torture him?_

She finished taking her medicine and plopped back down on the bed, "Thank you Harry."

Draco cleared his throat and Hermione rolled her eyes and said, "Thank you Draco."

"So what's the plan for today?" asked Harry, as he pulled clean clothes out of his dresser.

Hermione thought for a minute before she started firing off all the things they needed to do, "Well, my parents are picking us up this afternoon, so we need to pack everything up. We also need to either meet with Mrs. Malfoy or set something up to meet with her tomorrow. Although, tomorrow we're going to need to go shopping for the trip, since we leave in less than a week. And we're going to have to contact the travel agent to add all of you to the trip. And we'll need to figure out with Remus how things went with Dumbledore and we need to get our hands on some books to search for spells and rituals that might help protect all of us. And we'll…"

"Bloody Hell, alright already! I get it, we have a lot to do," whined Draco not wanting to hear anymore.

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him but didn't bother continuing on.

"Right. Lots to do. Got it," replied Harry trying to break the tension. "I'm going to take a quick shower, unless you want to go first Hermione?"

"No, you go ahead Harry, I'm going to stay in bed a little longer to give the pain meds a chance to kick in," replied Hermione, putting her head back down on the pillow.

Harry hesitated, unsure if he wanted to leave her now. He kept telling himself that it was because he didn't like that she was in pain but he really just didn't want to leave Draco alone with her for that long. _What if Malfoy touched her again…and what if she liked it…what if he kissed her?_

"Are you going to stand there all day, Potter, or are you going to actually take a shower?" sneered Malfoy.

Harry shook his head and gave Draco the middle finger before he quickly left the room. _Why the fuck was he so worried about Hermione and Malfoy? It was laughable really… _

"I don't think Potter wanted to leave you alone with me," smirked Draco.

"What? Why do you say that?" asked Hermione, looking at him curiously.

"I think he's worried we're going to do something while he's gone."

Hermione snorted and said, "In your dreams, Malfoy."

"You certainly didn't seem to mind when I had my hands all over you a few minutes ago, " replied Draco huskily, as he moved to sit on the bed with her.

"That was a message!" squeaked Hermione.

"Hmm. So you wouldn't like it if I kissed you?" he asked as he put his arms on either side of her and leaned closer.

Her eyes widened in surprise and she asked, "Wh…What are you doing?"

Draco raised his eyebrows at her as he leaned further down so his face was just inches from hers. He watched as she gulped then licked her lips before he gave her a Cheshire grin and suddenly pulled the pillow out from under her head, laughing as she spluttered indignantly, "Malfoy!"

He took the pillow and threw it on top of the one he already had on the floor, then he proceeded to lie down, putting his hands behind his head, grinning widely.

Hermione huffed indignantly and got up out of bed, storming over to the corner where her bag was. She angrily tossed stuff around inside it, cursing Malfoy under her breath until she had everything she needed and then turned to leave the room. She stopped short when she saw the way Malfoy was eyeing her and gulped.

"Don't mind me," he said sexily, "I'm just enjoying the show."

"What?" she replied, completely confused.

He made an exaggerated glance down her body, checking her out and she realized she was standing there in just her tank top and knickers! Her first instinct was to run away and hide in embarrassment but just as quickly that past and was replaced with anger. So she leaned down and grabbed Harry's pillow and decided to whack him with it repeatedly as she yelled at him.

"MALFOY!" whack "YOU!" whack "ARE" whack "SUCH" whack "AN" whack "ASSHOLE!" whack whack whack…

Suddenly Harry burst into the room, dripping in water and panting, "Hermione? What's wrong?" His eyes widened when he saw Hermione standing there in her tank top and knickers.

"He's an asshole, Harry! That's what's wrong! A complete and total prat!" she yelled, waving in Malfoy's direction.

Meanwhile, Draco sat up and wagged his finger at her, "Temper, Temper, Granger."

"Why you bastard!" snapped Hermione, whacking him with the pillow again. She continued to attack him until Harry wrestled the pillow away from her.

"Geez Hermione, what did he do?" asked Harry, slightly breathless from struggling with her.

She spluttered for a minute before she gave them both the evil eye, grabbed her stuff and stormed out of the room, slamming the door. A second later they heard the bathroom door slam shut.

Harry stared at the door for several moments in shock. _What the hell? _He turned to Draco and asked,"What the hell did you do, Malfoy?"

Draco chuckled then replied, "Nothing at all."

When Harry crossed his arms, clearly not believing him, Draco elaborated, "Apparently, Granger felt I should have told her she was standing there in her knickers giving me quite the show when she was searching for her things."

Harry glared at Draco before moving closer and whacking him really hard in the head with the pillow, "She's right, you are an asshole."

"Ouch!" whined Draco, rubbing his head.

…

It was over an hour later when Hermione returned to an empty bedroom. Confused, she proceeded downstairs to find the boys. The house appeared to be completely empty but as she entered the kitchen she saw the boys in the backyard with Remus. She grabbed a piece of fruit off the spotless counter and headed outside to join them.

"Morning Professor Lupin," she said cheerily as she sat down.

"Good Morning Hermione, and please I'm not your professor any longer, you can call me Remus."

Hermione smiled indulgently then asked, "How did things go with Professor Dumbledore?"

"Very well, I was just filling Harry and Draco in now. I explained to him that I was worried about Harry's reckless behavior and I wanted to spend some time with him alone in the muggle world before he went back to school."

"And he agreed?"

"He did. He seems to realize he didn't make the wisest choices last year when it came to Harry and feels largely responsible for what happened." Remus stopped and looked at Harry before he hesitantly added, "He also said you deserved to have some fun after what he told you…but he wouldn't elaborate further. Do you know what he's talking about Harry?"

Harry looked away and was silent for so long that it seemed as though he wasn't going to respond but he eventually said, "Yeah, I know what he's talking about. And he should feel bad."

"Harry!" gasped Hermione appalled.

Harry's eyes flashed dangerously at her and she asked, "Harry, Did something happen when you talked with Professor Dumbledore after…?"

"After my Godfather was murdered?" snapped Harry angrily.

"Harry," chastised Remus, surprised Harry was lashing out at Hermione of all people.

Harry crossed his arms and glared at all of them, "Look, I'm not going to talk about it. But Dumbledore _**deserves**_ to feel bad. He knows it and so do I. End of story."

The air was thick with tension and finally Draco couldn't take it anymore, "So, how are we going to get my mother?"

Hermione rolled her eyes at his selfishness but Remus replied, "Ask her to meet you in Diagon Alley for lunch. One of us will stay with you under the cloak and the other two will stay nearby just in case."

Draco snorted and said, "That's it? That's your grand master plan?"

"It's perfect. Surely your Mother won't be suspected of anything for leaving to have lunch in Diagon Alley," replied Hermione.

"And how exactly am I supposed to explain anything to her when we are surrounded by people and being watched?" sneered Draco, unwilling to admit it might work.

"I'll show you, it's really quite simple," smirked Remus, pulling his wand out. "Draco, go over by the back door for a minute. When Draco reluctantly did so, Remus cast a spell, "Muffliato," and motioned for Draco to walk back towards them. He then began talking to Harry and Hermione, "That spell will cause a very annoying buzzing noise so anyone nearby will only hear that. Draco can you hear me?"

The three of them looked at Draco who was now just a foot away from them to see he was frowning in confusion.

Remus grinned broadly and said, "Finite," before he asked, "Draco, did you hear anything I just said to you?"

Draco shook his head and said, "No, I just heard this weird buzzing noise until a second ago."

"Wicked," said Harry grinning.

Hermione bit her lip and asked, "Could you show us how to do the spell, Professor?"

"Of course, Hermione, but let's wait until after we figure out what Draco is going to tell his mother," replied Remus, smiling at her.

She blushed and nodded, making Harry smile.

"I don't need help figuring out what to say. I'm not going to come right out and say it, I am a Slytherin." snapped Draco.

"I want to be under the cloak then. I'll stay with him. We can go get an ice cream and Harry, you and Professor Lupin can sit a few tables away from us. It will look completely normal and will reinforce what he just told Professor Dumbledore."

"Granger, for the love of Merlin, we're not in school, stop calling everyone _Professor_," snapped Draco.

Hermione glared at Draco but refrained from snapping back at him.

"So it's settled then. Mr. Malfoy just needs to ask his mother to meet him. Will an owl be able to get through the wards at your house?" asked Lupin.

Draco shook his head and said, "No, I don't think so. It would be best to floo call her."

"There's no floo here," added Harry.

"And there isn't one at my place either," finished Hermione.

Draco rolled his eyes in annoyance and muttered under his breath, then suddenly turned to them smiling.

"Do I even want to know?" asked Harry.

"Trixie!" said Draco loudly, resulting in a house elf standing before all of them.

"Yessus Master Malfoy," said the elf bowing to the ground.

"Trixie, I need you to ask my mother to meet me for ice cream in Diagon Alley in one hour." ordered Draco.

"Yessus Master." replied the elf obediently.

Draco's tone was hard and his eyes were cold as he continued, "Do not tell her anything else. Do not tell her where I am, who I am with, and what I was doing when I called you. Do you understand? I forbid you from telling her or anyone else anything other than I want to meet my mother for ice cream in one hour."

"Yessus Master." replied the elf, eyes wide.

"Good. Now go." demanded Draco.

The elf was gone with a crack and Draco was somewhat proud of himself for finding a solution to their problem. He had a slight smirk on his face when he turned to Hermione, Harry and Lupin; however, it faded quickly when he saw how angry Hermione was.

"I'm going to go get washed up since we have to leave soon," said Harry quickly retreating into the house followed by Lupin who didn't even bother making an excuse.

"Hermione is going to kill him," said Harry as they closed the back door.

"Yes, I imagine she just might do that. Does Mr. Malfoy not know of her plight to save house elves? What is it called again?"

"S.P.E.W. and no I don't think he does," snorted Harry.

"SPEW?" asked Lupin incredulously?

Harry laughed and shook his head as he turned to head upstairs, his last look outside showing him that Hermione was clearly quite angry, waving her hands all around and poking Draco in the chest repeatedly.


End file.
